The Rajya Sabha today held discussion on the Appropriation (No 4 and No 5) Bills for consideration and return. The Appropriation Bills authorise payment and appropriation of sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India.<br />''<br />''Participating in the discussion, Congress MP Dr. Amee Yajnik raised the issue of low allocation for the MNREGA scheme saying that more allocation is required to strengthen this scheme.<br />''<br />''Highlighting the Government's steps for the welfare of farmers and poor, Arun Singh of BJP said, additional demand for grants of over one lakh crore rupees have been made by the Government to provide fertilizer subsidies to the farmers. He said, this shows the commitment of the government for the welfare of farmers.<br />''<br />''Another party MP Satish Chandra Dubey highlighted the Narendra Modi government's initiative including the MUDRA scheme and the opening of free Jan Dhan bank accounts.<br />''<br />''Dola Sen of Trinamool Congress criticised the government for its disinvestment policies. She accused the government of selling the profitable Public Sector Undertakings. Dr. K Keshava Rao of TRS said, collection of cess has increased manifold under the present government.<br />''<br />''Professor Ram Gopal Yadav of Samajwadi Party said the money has to be spent judiciously and the government should give first priority to the public welfare schemes. S Kalyanasundaram of DMK, Sandosh Kumar of CPI, Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar of TDP and others also participated in the discussion.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will reply tomorrow.</span>