Congress MP Manish Tewari on Wednesday raised the issue of declining defence allocation in the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha even as neighbouring China, he said, has raised its defence spending.
The MP hoped that the new Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, who has also been Defence Minister, would take corrective steps in the upcoming Budget
"China is spending more on defence. Their defence spending has grown over the years," Tewari said in the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour.
Citing a Parliamentary panel report, he said, the country's defence expenditure was reduced to 1.60 per cent of the GDP in 2017-18. It further came down to 1.52 per cent in the interim Budget for 2019-20.
Among other issues, former Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav and BJP MP from Patliputra, Bihar, demanded that Patna university, which has completed hundred years, should be declared a Central University. He said it has been a long-pending demand by the people of the state.
Raising the issue of death of construction workers in Pune and Mumbai, Girish Bapat , BJP MP from Pune, said there is an urgent need to implement Development Control (DC) Rules so that they are brought under the safety net.
Last week, 40 construction workers died in Pune and 20 in Mumbai. Since construction workers are part of the unorganised sector, they don't come under the safety net, he added.
CP Joshi , BJP MP from Chittorgarh, said the Rajasthan government has failed to implement farm debt waiver as promised, forcing farmers to commit suicide.
The Congress had promised to implement farm debt waiver in 10 days of coming to power but they have failed to do so, he said.
Gaurav Gogoi, Congress MP from Kalibor, Assam, raised the issue of financial distress of PSUs in the country.
The House has discussed the poor financial health of state-owned BSNL and MTNL, he said, adding, India Post too is under stress.
India Post has made a loss of Rs 15,000 crore, he said, urging the Government to devise a plan and mechanism to revive such PSUs and make them financially viable.
Hansraj Hans, BJP MP from Northwest, raised the matter of drug abuse and death of sanitation workers in many parts of the country. The MP, a noted sufi singer, also regaled the house with some of his compositions.