On the opposition side, Congress MP Kumari Selja initiated the discussion on the budget in the Lok Sabha. While starting the discussion on the budget after Zero Hour, Kumari Shailaja, as the CM during the UPA government of PM Narendra Modi, recalled the matter of cooperative federalism and also criticized the government by remembering a statement of Sushma Swaraj. There came an occasion when Speaker Om Birla interrupted him and said that this is Parliament, not Haryana Assembly.
Kumari Shailja said that when our government was there, Narendra Modiji used to come to the NDMC meetings. He used to talk about cooperative federalism. Now even NDMC is no more. Perhaps these two words are not even in the dictionary of the government and BJP. He said that Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have got a lot in the budget. Nitishji and Naiduji will be happy, but it does not take long for the times to change. Kumar Shailja said that the number of seats has slipped so much as a result of the government losing confidence.
He said that when it comes to Himachal in the budget, help is talked about through external agencies. Haryana, Jammu Kashmir and Jharkhand are heading towards elections. It seems that he has accepted defeat in all three states. The Congress MP said that there are three ministers each from Haryana but he did not consider it appropriate to even take their names. Attacking the government, he said that while talking about farmers, there was talk of doubling the income. Have you adopted Swaminathan Committee’s formula C2+50? No. There seems to be no reason to pat yourself on the back.
The Congress MP said that the farmer had been sitting for over a year but no one paid attention. Made borders as if they were enemies. He said that the world knows that the capitalists have friends. We waived off the loans of farmers, you waived off the loan of Rs 16 lakh crore of your capitalist friends. He said that you broke your promise in everything. The farmer is still sitting with his sorrow. Kumari Shailja said that you should not force the farmer to be aggressive. You have made the farmer both a helpless and a laborer.
Referring to crop insurance, he said that when it comes to compensation, the farmer runs from pillar to post. The farmers continued to sit on strike, 736 farmers left this world but not a single word was spoken about them. Kumari Shailaja said that even today a farmer is sitting on the Shambhu border but you are not looking at that helpless farmer. You talk about giving MSP but it is about legal guarantee. He said that unless you give legal guarantee, you will not do justice to the farmers. We talked about legal guarantee in our manifestos, it would have been good if you had read this point also.
Congress MP Kumari Shailaja said that the wage increase has been only one percent every year. Earlier you used to reject MNREGA, later you understood and adopted it. He said that if there was any savior in Covid, it was MNREGA. You don’t even remember it. Farming and laborers go hand in hand, you have forgotten this. Kumari Shailja said that you have pushed the capitalists into rural areas also.
He said that the minimum wage should be Rs 400 per day, this is the demand of the entire country. Kumari Shailaja said that we are saying that if our government comes, we will do this. The government should accept this. He said that you should not make the poor stand in line by giving them 5 kg of food grains, give them their rights. You talk about giving food grains to 80 crore people, will 80 crore people stand in the queue?
Shailaja reminded Sushma Swaraj’s statement
Kumari Shailaja, remembering BJP’s firebrand leader Sushma Swaraj, said that once during the budget, Sushmaji had said that Dada would not fill his stomach with figures. Pranab Mukherjee was the Finance Minister then. She said that she wants to remind the ruling party that figures will not fill their stomach. The profits of oil companies are increasing but does the public get any relief? Kumari Shailja said, will only grains suffice? The prices of potatoes, onions and vegetables are increasing.
On this someone said that the Finance Minister does not eat onion. On this, Kumari Shailja said that food has its own taste. Referring to government schools, he said that schools are being closed in our state. Our leader Rahul Gandhi talked about NEET, why doesn’t anyone take responsibility. If you don’t take it, the youth will show it to you. He also cornered the government on unemployment and raised questions on skilling and asked whether you talked to the industry for this. What is the guarantee that the youth will not be fired within two-three months after taking advantage of this scheme? Referring to the backlog of recruitments, he also raised the issue of Skill India and asked what happened to it.
Eliminate Agniveer immediately- Shailja
The Congress MP said that if unemployment increases so much, then bad habits also increase. Where was our Haryana? We used to say – ‘Desh mein desh Haryana, food of milk and curd’. Today crimes have increased. He said that no matter how many claims the government makes about Agniveer, if you go to the ground you will know the reality. You are being unfair to the army as well as the youth. Haryana’s share in the country is two percent but its share in the army is 10 percent. Immediately eliminate Agniveer in the army and again raise the slogan of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan.
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Raising the issue of scholarship, Kumari Shailaja said that children in Haryana have not received scholarship for four years. How will such children study? Babasaheb Ambedkar also studied on scholarship. Speaker Om Birla interrupted him on this. The speaker said that this is Parliament, not Haryana Assembly. On this Shailja said that you also love Rajasthan. Still you are the speaker.
Now even the glasses of cleanliness campaign are not visible
Kumari Shailaja mentioned the difference between budget and expenditure. He mentioned about PM Modi laying the foundation stone of AYUSH University in Haryana and said that not even a single stone was laid there. According to the Global Hunger Index, we have come at 111 in terms of malnutrition out of 125 countries. Had they listened to our promise of giving one lakh rupees to the women, it would have been beneficial for them. You don’t have ideas, we do. If we had taken it, it would have been good for the country.
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Referring to Millennium City Gurgaon and Faridabad, she said that the honorable former Chief Minister is here, I hope that you will listen to him. I know you are disappointed with Haryana, but if you get a chance for 10 years, do some welfare. Cleanliness campaign, even glasses are not visible now. Maybe he also threw it in the garbage.