December 15, 2025
Pratima Mondal’s speech on the Supplementary Demands for Grants – First Batch for 2025-26
Sir, on behalf of All India Trinamool Congress, I rise to speak on the Supplementary Demands for Grants, 2025-26 with a sense of déjà vu.Every year we pass the Budget with grand claims and booming confidence. And every year, without fail, the Government returns quietly with a tray full of supplementary demands, as if the original Budget was just a polite suggestion, not a financial plan for the world’s largest democracy. This year, the Government needs Rs. 1.32 lakh crore more. At this point, I feel the Budget is just the trailer. The real movie is the Supplementary Demands for Grants. This is not unforeseen volatility. This is systemic failure masquerading as normalcy. Take, for example, fertilizers. The estimate is Rs. 1.67 lakh crore; the revision is Rs. 1.92 lakh crore; and the new demand is Rs. 18,525 crore more. Fertilizer consumption grew by 16 per cent and subsidy jumped to 130 per cent. omewhere between these numbers lies a forecasting model that has completely given up. Farmers plan their cropping cycles better than the Government plans its subsidies. And that extra Rs. 18,525 crore could have directly supported nearly 10 crore farmers. But instead, we are told to pay for a system that leaks more than it delivers. For LPG and petroleum subsidies, there is a provision for another Rs.9,500 crore. When States ask for resources, they are told to tighten their belts. But when subsidies need topping up, suddenly that belt becomes elastic. Sir, now, I want to speak with seriousness about something that cannot be brushed aside. The Election Commission gets Rs. 58 crore. It is fine, but we still have no clarity on support for the families of BLOs who died by suicide. In West Bengal alone, 39 people including eight BLOs lost their lives due to unbearable pressure. Sir, these were ordinary citizens who served quietly and honestly. Their families deserve acknowledgement, dignity and compensation, not silence. Strengthening democracy cannot mean uploading institutions while ignoring the people who carry the weight of those institutions. Sir, on youth, the concerns deepen. Only four per cent joined the PM Internship Scheme. Only 1.4 per cent Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe youth are participating and one-third of our young population is not in education, employment or training. These are young Indians, ready to work, ready to learn and ready to contribute, yet they are left standing outside the gates of opportunity. The gap is not in talent, the gap is in implementation. The Government promised a fiscal deficit of 4.5 per cent of GDP when it presented the Budget, but the commitment was always hollow. These repeated supplementary demands make a mockery of fiscal targets, which are quietly altered mid-year without public scrutiny. Where is the fiscal discipline? Where is the credibility? Sir, now, regarding aviation sector, another crisis is waiting patiently for attention. One operator cancelled more than 5,000 flights. DGCA has 50 per cent vacancies, AAI has 37 per cent vacancies and BCAS has 38 per cent vacancies. With so many vacancies, aviation is not flying, it is floating. Yet in this entire supplementary demand, there is zero rupees for civil aviation. Kolkata, despite being one of India’s cultural and economic hubs, still has no direct flight to the United States or Europe. Other metros enjoy 456 flights a week. Kolkata gets none. Even tourists can see the bias while planning their itinerary. Why cannot the Union Government do so? All of this ties directly into the collapse of cooperative federalism. States like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal rely on stable subsidy flows. But the Centre’s unpredictable spending patterns throw State planning into chaos. States are expected to act as shock absorbers for decisions they did not make. This is not cooperative federalism, Sir. This is federalism where the Centre drives the car and the States are told to pay for the fuel. Sir, suddenly an additional Rs. 2,198 crore appears in the Supplementary Demands for Manipur’s development. Sir, I truly welcome development of Manipur. Every part of India deserves growth, dignity and peace. But Sir, at what timing? When Manipur was burning for months and so, the Government could not find urgency. But now that elections are coming, funds have magically appeared. When the State was pleading for help, we were told, “We are looking into it.” Now, suddenly the path opens wide. Sir, I appreciate the Government’s efficiency. If only this speed had been shown when people were running for their lives, not when people are running for votes. The message seems to be in a crisis, “wait” and in an election,“celebrate”. That is not governance, that is selective attention, Sir. Women’s safety presents another distressing picture. The women’s helpline budget was cut by 85 per cent. Cybercrime protection for women and children received zero amount last year and zero amount again this year. Sir, slogans do not protect women, budgets do. Right now, the budget for women’s safety is practically on a fast.Sir, now I am coming into the climate sector. Despite escalating climate risk, the Supplementary Demands are silent on environmental protections. There is no meaningful enhancement for climate adaptation, pollution control, biodiversity conservation or disaster preparedness. Sir, the absence of fresh allocation signals that environmental concerns remain expendable, treated as peripheral rather than integral to growth, livelihoods and public welfare. Now, the broader issue is the silence around these demands. There is no explanation for failed estimates, no clarity on what changed mid-year and no accountability for the additional money requested.We are simply told: “Please approve”. Parliament is not a cashier’s counter. The rupee has been weakening due to trade deficit, capital outflows, global interest rate pressures, and weak exports. Yet, the Supplementary Demands offer no funds or policy support to address these issues. By ignoring the falling rupee, the Government avoids acknowledging rising input costs, inflation, and the growing burden on ordinary citizens. I would like to request the hon. Finance Minister to clarify this. Why did Donald Trump call the Indian economy as a dead economy? The Home Ministry has been allocated Rs. 10 crore for advertisement and publication and Rs. 5 crore for printing. I would like the hon. Finance Minister to explain this. Why such a huge amount was allocated to the Home Ministry only for advertisement purposes? The affront goes deeper. These 72 Supplementary Demands will be bulldozed through this House via the guillotine procedure. The Government has engineered a system where meaningful parliamentary scrutiny is rendered impossible. The Modi Government has progressively weakened every institution designed to check Executive excess — the C&AG, the RBI, the Election Commission, the judiciary, and now the Parliament itself. Through Supplementary Demands, made immune to scrutiny, it perfects a system where accountability evaporates. he Union Cabinet has approved a Bill to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act as Pujya Bapuji Gramin Rozgar Yojana.Changing the name of a nearly 20-year-old widely recognized welfare scheme is an unnecessary and costly process. Rebranding and all the related materials — from office signature to official documentation and job cards — would be a significant expense of public resources. Our people are living souls and not mere lifeless soil.If we truly honour our beloved countrymen, then our Bapu ji will be literally worshipped. West Bengal is being deprived of getting MGNREGA funds. West Bengal is being deprived of getting funds under the Jal Jeevan Mission. West Bengal is being deprived of getting funds under the National Rural Health Mission. West Bengal is being deprived of getting funds under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The note is now ringing in the voice of the underprivileged people of West Bengal. I shall not be afraid. I shall not die every now and then before death. The people of West Bengal will fight for their protector, none other than Mamata Banerjee. People of West Bengal will fight for their young leader, Abhishek Banerjee. People of West Bengal will protect their dear symbol once again, in 2026. Lastly, I call this House to demand accountability. I call on the Parliament to reassert its constitutional authority. I demand that the large supplementary allocations face mandatory Standing Committee review. I demand transparency in subsidy distribution. I demand that fiscal targets mean something. I demand that this Government immediately undertake a comprehensive fiscal and administrative reform. The nation is watching. History will judge. Thank you, Sir.
