The Rajya Sabha has taken up the general discussion today on the Union Budget 2017-18. Initiating the discussion, former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said the Government has committed a terrible mistake to the economy by demonetising high value currency. <br/><br/>He said as a result, 75 per cent of small and medium industries have been closed across the country. He alleged that the government has set a growth target which is at variance with the numbers projected by Central Statistical Organisation, CSO. <br/><br/>He found fault with the Government for not able to maintain pace of growth rate. Referring to the Budget Proposals, Mr Chidambaram said it does not have strategy to create jobs and enabling environment for investments. He also criticised the Government for not mentioning about the Minimum Support Price for farm produce.<br/><br/>Earlier, A. Navneethakrishnan of the AIADMK urged the Government to direct the governor of Tamil Nadu to conduct immediate swearing-in of the new Chief Minister to end political uncertainty in the state. In the morning, the House could not function due to uproar by opposition members on different issues and witnessed two adjournments. <br/><br/>Agitating Congress members demanded the Prime Minister's apology for his remarks against Dr Manmohan Singh during the reply to the motion of thanks.

The Rajya Sabha has taken up the general discussion today on the Union Budget 2017-18. Initiating the discussion, former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said the Government has committed a terrible mistake to the economy by demonetising high value currency. <br/><br/>He said as a result, 75 per cent of small and medium industries have been closed across the country. He alleged that the government has set a growth target which is at variance with the numbers projected by Central Statistical Organisation, CSO. <br/><br/>He found fault with the Government for not able to maintain pace of growth rate. Referring to the Budget Proposals, Mr Chidambaram said it does not have strategy to create jobs and enabling environment for investments. He also criticised the Government for not mentioning about the Minimum Support Price for farm produce.<br/><br/>Earlier, A. Navneethakrishnan of the AIADMK urged the Government to direct the governor of Tamil Nadu to conduct immediate swearing-in of the new Chief Minister to end political uncertainty in the state. In the morning, the House could not function due to uproar by opposition members on different issues and witnessed two adjournments. <br/><br/>Agitating Congress members demanded the Prime Minister's apology for his remarks against Dr Manmohan Singh during the reply to the motion of thanks.

The Rajya Sabha has taken up discussion on general budget 2017-18. Initiating the debate, Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram alleged that the government has set a growth target which is at variance with the numbers projected by Central Statistics Organisation, CSO. He said, private investment is not taking place in several sectors.