Motion of Thanks On President's Address On 24 Feb 2011
Respected Sir,
at the outset, I express my gratitude through you to the hon. President and the
Government for at least now acknowledging in the form of Presidential Address
to both the Houses about various problems confronting the nation and the common
man of the country. But I am disillusioned to note that the Government has not
given any ray of hope to address any of the problems confronting the country.
The Address refers to problems of inflation,
poverty, energy shortage and so on as if these issues surfaced only yesterday.
The Congress Party is in the front for maximum part of our post-Independence
governance, either directly or indirectly, and has been deceiving the people of
this country with the slogan of ‘Garibi Hatao”. If the intention of the
Congress Party and, more particularly of the UPA Government, is really to
relieve the country from poverty, inflation and other social problems, they
should have informed the Members of the House as to what held them back from
delivering their promises.
The President has mentioned that the aam aadmi has
to be protected against the ravages of the worst ever global economic crisis
since the great depression and also against the failure of the monsoon in large
parts of the country in mid-2009. But I am dismayed to mention that this
Government has done the least for the aam aadmi. The price rise is the glaring
example. During the last two years, the prices of essential commodities have
risen and in spite of the public outcry, the Government has done the least on
the price front, what to mention on the ravages of the global economic crisis.
Session after the Session, the price situation in the country is mentioned and discussed and the
Ministers and the Prime Minister give assurances in the Parliament to curb the
prices. This is the most glaring failure of this Government.
It is unfortunate that the statistics clearly prove
the fact that though the Government boasts of economic growth in successive
Plans, if we see the Planning Commission’s Report, in the context of the growth
of the economy, from First Plan to Tenth Plan, we will find that it is from 3.5
per cent to 7.7 per cent.
If our economic growth has been so consistent,
obviously, the levels of poverty ought to have come down proportionately.
However, the harsh fact remains that in 1973, there were 32.13 crore people
below poverty line and this number stood at only 30.17 crores in the year 2004.
The above facts clearly indicate that our Plans
hardly did anything to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. I would
like to mention here that the time has come for serious introspection as to
whether our Plans contributed towards strengthening of the rich or the poor.
Sir, the views expressed by the Government
regarding protection to the farming community in the form of Minimum Support
Price, supply of inputs at a subsidized prices and food security did not
reflect the correct scenario at the ground level. Though the Government goes on
for an ambitious plan of food security, it has not been able to reduce the
wastage and increasing the storage capacity for the foodgrains. In fact, Sir,
our farmers want level-playing commercial environment to sustain their income. It is
unfortunate that the Government failed to mention the number of suicides by
farmers in various States, more particularly, in my State, Andhra Pradesh,
where the current Government boasts of spending a lakh crore rupees for the
benefit of farming.
I am perplexed if the Government has initiated so
many measures for the benefit of farmers, then, why have we not been able to
address the problem of suicides by the farmers?
Sir, the President in her Address mentioned that
the Government has worked single-mindedly to build on the achievements of its
earlier term to deliver the promise of faster and more inclusive growth.
But I am constrained to mention that the major
achievements of the earlier term of the Government are very glaring now before
the country in the form of 2G spectrum and the Commonwealth Games scams. If
this is inclusive growth, I wonder where this country is heading. It is amusing
that the Government made a statement that it is committed to (Time-bell)
quality governance, transparency, probity and integrity.
If that is the case, the people of this country are
anxious to know as to why it has costed them one full session of Parliament in
securing a JPC probe against the scandal related to 2G spectrum involving...
It is unfortunate to hear the Prime Minister saying
that the JPC was agreed to only in order to run the House even after the CAG
had given a report.
