Review of proceedings in Rajya Sabha

The highlight of the fourth day of proceedings of the winter session of the Rajya Sabha was the reply of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the economic situation in the country. ” ”She said that India continues to maintain the momentum of the fastest-growing major economy, with all sectors contributing significantly in economic activity. ” ”Replying to a short-duration discussion on the state of the economy the minister highlighted the various achievements of the Modi government since May 2014. ”        ”The second quarter growth is the highest in the world and India continues to maintain the momentum of being the fastest-growing economy, Sitharaman said. ”        ”Referring to Japan and Germany, she said the third and fourth largest economies have contracted and so have the emerging economies. In comparison, India’s over 7 per cent growth is significant, she asserted. ”        ”The Finance Minister listed India’s achievements across industries during her response to the discussion on the country’s economic situation. ”      ”She noted that we all can take pride in the fact that India is in the top three in the world across varied industries ranging from milk, pulses, rice, wheat, jute, sugar cane, to coal, aluminium, real-time digital payments, to limestone production and power production.She also drew a comparison of various schemes that were started in the UPA but remained only on paper and progress on the same was made during the last nine years.  She further said that in just the last eight years, India has become the fifth largest economy from the 10th in 2014. ”        ”The activities are all across the economy. It's not as if one sector is doing well, she said. All sectors are growing and growing significantly for us to notice it, the minister said.She emphasised that the manufacturing sector is also contributing significantly to the economy on the back of measures taken by the government, including the Make-In-India programme and production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes. ”        ”India is the second most sought-after manufacturing destination in the world, she claimed.The Finance Minister informed the House that direct tax collection grew by 21.82 per cent this year till November 9 and monthly GST collections have stabilised at 1.6 lakh crore rupees in a sign of economic growth. ”The minister dismissed claims made on the employment front and said 13.5 crore people have come out of 'multi-dimensional' poverty in the last five years. ”On concerns of several Opposition members over the rising prices in the country, she said the government has taken "quite a few" measures to check inflation. ”The retail inflation based on the consumer price index had touched a high of 7.8 per cent in April 2022. However, now it has been close to the Reserve Bank's target of 4 per cent, she said. ” ”The Minister also raised the issue of post-poll violence in West Bengal even after victory in the state and said this does not happen when the BJP wins as has happened in the just concluded assembly polls.  She also asserted that in several districts in four states where assembly elections were held, women have voted for the BJP. ”        ”Sitharaman said the focus of the BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on youth, women, poor and the farmers and the government is ensuring that all schemes are used to help the poor.She also referred to new 'drone sakhi yojna' for women self groups enumerated by the government and said what better example than this can be to empower women in the country. ” ”Sitharaman also targeted the West Bengal government over MGREGA, alleging that funds under the scheme were being misused. She cited an example of a road build in a private tea estate using MGREGA funds. ”      ”Earlier participating in the debate, members of opposition parties accused the government of driving inequitable growth but ruling members defended the policies of the NDA regime saying it has led to all-round development in the country. ”      ”L Hanumanthaiah of Congress and V Sivadasan of CPI-M said in the last nine-and-a-half years of the rule of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, the rich have become richer and the poor poorer. ”      ”Hanumanthaiah said in 2023 the Indian economy is facing high inflation and income inequality. ” ”The high inflation is not the product of market forces alone but the governmental interventions that prioritise one section over the another, he claimed. ” ”He said the persistently high inflation has been a constant alongside high unemployment. The recent reduction in LPG prices is "a drop in the ocean" and it does not provide any relief to lakhs of people and families who are still suffering, he said. ”      ”He claimed that the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer and 5 per cent Indians now own 60 per cent of the country's wealth. As against this, he claimed, the bottom 50 per cent of Indians own only 3 per cent of wealth. ” ”Sivadasan said some of the leaders of the ruling party were trying to "make an illusion that India is growing and the economy is growing". He said the assets and incomes of big corporate families are increasing and that is not development of the economy. ”      ” Raising issues of non-dispersal of MNREGA wages, Sivadasan asked if the economy was growing fast and doing well why the government was not dispersing wages of the poorest of the poor people.He also asked why Asha and Anganwadi workers were not getting their minimum wages. ”      ”Workers in many PSUs are struggling because of the policies of the government.The claims were countered by BJP members, including Shambhu Sharan Patel, Aditya Prasad, Brijlal, Sakaldeep Rajbhar and Sadanand Shet Tanawde. ”      ”Patel asserted that India has become the fastest growing economy in the world under the leadership of Modi and there is not a sector which has not grown. ”      ”He accused the previous Congress-led UPA government of indulging in divisive policies and ignoring the backward classes and said the Modi-led government has taken up several steps for the uplift of the backward classes. ”      ”Aditya Prasad pointed out that after the pandemic, India has taken up infrastructure projects such as developments of highways and airports at such speed which it is not a mean achievement. ”      ”Brijlal said under the Modi government law and order in India has improved drastically thereby making the country once again a favourable destination for foreign investment, unlike in the UPA regime which was marked by bomb blasts and terror attacks. ”      ”Rajbhar reiterated that farmers' income has grown under the NDA government and there has been all-round development. ”      ”Tanawde said the success of the BJP in the recent elections was also a reflection of the acceptance of the country's economic growth and policies under the leadership of Modi by the people. ”      ”Prime Minister Narendra Modi was greeted with the thumping of desks and slogans by treasury benches as he entered the Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour today. ”      ”He attends the Question Hour proceedings every Thursday, the day when queries related to the departments he handles are listed. ”        ”This is the first time he entered the Rajya Sabha during the winter session of Parliament that started on December 4.

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Review of proceedings in Rajya Sabha