“This is unfortunate. Congress and INDI alliance parties are prioritising their personal interests rather than public interest. NITI Aayog is an institution with the idea of federalism, where discussions around development are held. Hence, this boycott is unfortunate,” said Union Minister and BJP MP Bhupendra Yadav on Opposition announcing boycott of NITI Aayog meeting, scheduled to be held on July 27.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, “I think due to their (the opposition) personal thinking of hatred towards PM Modi – they don’t think about their own people… Be it Telangana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu – eight states have boycotted last year’s NITI Aayog meeting which was centred around Viksit Bharat… They only talk about democracy by having the Constitution in hand, they do drama but they don’t believe in democracy. They are arrogant about the names of their families. Being misguided by the Congress party, the parties in the INDI alliance are trying to demolish the democratic system.”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah left from the Parliament.
While speaking at the Lok Sabha, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee said, “This Budget was planned by two individuals to keep another two in good faith, neglecting the aspirations of 140 crore people.”
A decision has been taken to reserve 10% vacancies for former Agniveers in the recruitment to the post of constable (general duty)/rifleman in the Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles. Further, a provision has been made for relaxation in upper age limit and exemption from the physical efficiency test, said MoS Home Nityanand Rai in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (July 24). “The number of vacancies as on 01.07.2024 in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles(AR) are 84,106 against the total sanctioned strength of 10,45,751. 67,345 persons have been recruited between April 2023 and February 2024. Further, 64,091 vacancies have been notified and are at different stages of recruitment. It is clear from the above, with insignificant effective vacancies compared to the size of the forces, the question of overtime doesn’t arise,” he said.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (July 24) said the INDIA bloc will put pressure on the NDA government to implement MSP legal guarantee for farmers. After a meeting with farmer leaders, the LoP in Lok Sabha said: “In our manifesto, we have mentioned MSP with a legal guarantee. We have done the assessment and it can be implemented. We had a meeting right now where we decided that we will talk to the other leader of the INDIA alliance to put pressure on the Govt that MSP legal guarantee should be given to the farmers of the country.” A delegation of 12 farmer leaders under Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) from across states met Gandhi in Parliament. Congress MPs KC Venugopal, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Dharamvir Gandhi, Dr Amar Singh, Deepender Singh Hooda and Jai Prakash were also present.
On Karnataka boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting, deputy CM DK Shivakumar on Wednesday (July 24) said there is no policy and no justice after the Union Budget was presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “There is no ‘Niti’ (policy), it has gone. There is no justice here. So, our leaders have decided in the interest of the protest over no proper representation in the budget,” he said.
On the Union Budget, Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar said it was in the best interest of the people. He said central schemes announced for women and farmers are especially important. “The budget of 2024-25 has been presented yesterday by the Finance Minister. The budget is in the best interest of the people of the country, in the interest of every section of the society, especially the many schemes that have been announced in the interest of women and farmers. PM Modi told us that by 2047, the country will complete its journey towards developed India…In the urban housing sector, 1 crore new houses will be made with an investment of Rs 10 lakh crores…” he said.
The NIA, with its headquarters at New Delhi, has 21 branch offices of which 13 in Chandigarh, Ranchi, Imphal, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Patna, Jaipur, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Visakhapatnam, Dimapur and Dehradun, have been created in the last five years, said MoS Home Nityanand Rai to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (July 24). A total of 809 additional posts have been sanctioned in the NIA in these five years and, of these, 142 posts are for two new divisions set up at the headquarters — one for investigation and monitoring of human trafficking cases and the other for investigation of offences of cyber terrorism, explosives and prohibited arms and also for strengthening of legal cadre in NIA Headquarters, Rai said. “The NIA Act was amended in 2019 to enlarge the mandate of the NIA by inclusion of offences related to human trafficking, manufacture/sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism and offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 and the jurisdiction of NIA was expanded beyond India,” he added.
After being denied entry into Parliament initially, farmers invited by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi were finally allowed in to meet the LoP at his office. “…This is the issue…What should we do? It could be a technical issue also… We had invited them (farmer leaders) here to meet us. But they are not allowing them (in Parliament). Because they are farmers, maybe this is the reason they are not allowing them in,” Gandhi earlier said.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday (JUly 24) said his ministry is “very happy” with a hike of 22 per cent for its in the Union Budget this fiscal as this will allow India to focus on and support work with the Global South. He said with this fund allocation, passport services will improve. “As foreign minister, we are very happy we’ve got a 22% growth in the budget of the ministry of external affairs. It will allow us to focus on our neighbourhood. It will allow us to support and work with the Global South. It will help us to facilitate and service and support Indians going abroad. Our passport services will definitely improve in many ways. As a result of all of this, the country will be more secure because our own neighbourhood will be much more friendly as a result of all that we do,” he added. Jaishankar said the country should appreciate this budget at a difficult time in the global situation as it will sustain growth. “The budget presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman is a very exceptionally important budget as it is the first budget of the third term of the NDA government. The budget is presented at a time when the global situation is very volatile, uncertain, difficult in many ways. What the budget seeks to do is to maintain growth, manage and reduce inflation to ensure that our national capabilities grow and that India’s rise and growth are not affected by a negative international environment. So this is a kind of global perspective, really global context in a way of how the budget should be seen…”
Leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (July 23) held a meeting with 20 Congress MPs who will speak during the Budget question hour. The party is expected to counter the government on jobs and employment.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday (July 24), while defending the budget, gave a strong reply to West Bengal’s allegations that it has not received any allocation. She said the state has not implemented any central schemes under the Narendra Modi-led government. “In the last 10 years, Bengal has not implemented many central schemes given by Modi government and now the TMC has the audacity to question me?” she asked.
During the third day of the monsoon session in Parliament on Wednesday (July 24), opposition MPs shouted slogans in the Lok Sabha and staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha during the budget question hour. Before the Opposition walked out of Rajya Sabha over “discriminatory” budget, LoP Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said: “…Yeh kursi bachane ke liye yeh sab hua hai… (this has all been done to save their government). We will condemn it and protest against it. All INDIA parties will protest… How will development happen if there is no balance?” he asked.
The chief ministers of at least four states will boycott the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by PM Narendra Modi on July 27 in protest against alleged discrimination against them in the Union Budget. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan will also be absent on account of ill health, but it has not yet been confirmed if this is part of the boycott by the other states.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will be flying to Delhi on July 26, to attend the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by PM Narendra Modi the following day. She will hold a discussion with TMC MPs before this crucial meeting, and then place the state’s demands before the council.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday (July 23) defended the Union Budget in the Rajya Sabha, saying the allegations made by the opposition that the budget is only for two parties — Bihar and Andhra Pradesh ruled by key partners of the NDA government — are “outrageous”, especially since they were being made by a senior leader like Mallikarjun Kharge. She said this is a “deliberate attempt” by the Congress to give an impression to people that nothing has been given to other states. “In every Budget, you don’t get an opportunity to name every state of this country… The Cabinet had taken a decision to set up a port on Vadavan. But Maharashtra’s name was not taken in the budget yesterday. Does this mean that Maharashtra feels ignored? If a particular state is named in the speech, does it mean that programmes of the government don’t go to these states? This is a deliberate attempt of the Opposition led by the Congress to give the impression to people that nothing has been given to other states. This is an outrageous allegation…” she said.
Samajwadi Party chief and MP Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday (July 24) said Uttar Pradesh did not get anything in the Union Budget as the “people of Lucknow have angered the people of Delhi”. “Uttar Pradesh did not get anything. It should have got a double benefit from the double-engine government. I think the people of Lucknow have angered the people of Delhi. Its result is visible in the budget. So what is the benefit of the double engine?” he asked. Taking a dig at the NDA government, he said the Centre has given “support price” to its allies – referring to the sops given to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh – instead of giving MSP to farmers.
The INDIA bloc on Wednesday (July 24) staged a protest outside Parliament over “discrimination” against opposition-ruled states in the Union Budget, which was presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman a day before. Congress chief ministers will also be boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for July 27, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who will be the first to speak during the discussion on the budget, said: “There is very little for most states. There were a few expectations for Kerala, especially in the health sector, but all of them have not been fulfilled. Each state has its own issue to point to…” he said. The opposition front demanded equal treatment for all states in the budget. Congress president and LoP in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said: “This Budget is anti-people, no one has got justice. They have talked about special package but special status has not been given. This is a deceptive budget and injustice to the people.” Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, several MPs of the Congress, TMC, Samajwadi Party, DMK and the Left joined the protest held on the steps leading up to the Makar Dwar of Parliament. The MPs raised placards such as ‘We want India budget not NDA budget’ and ‘NDA betrays India in Budget’.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday (July 24) slammed the opposition parties by saying they were trying to mislead on the Union Budget being only for two states. “Capital allocation for infrastructure is for entire country, medical relief is for entire country, there is relief for farmers. Calling the entire budget for only two states is absolutely wrong. They can give their suggestion in Parliament House. Without studying the budget, making allegations is not correct,” he said.
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