President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday advocated a constructive debate on simultaneous elections to lok Sabha and Assemblies, and funding of polls to eradicate money power. The Government, he said, is also committed to combating terrorism and to ensure that perpetrators of such acts are brought to justice.
In his address to the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament marking the opening of the Budget Session, Mukherjee referred to the Government’s demonetisation decision to fight black money and corruption as also the surgical strikes across the loC as bold decisions, both of which were received with thumping of desks by members.
“Frequent elections put on hold development programmes, disrupt normal public life and impact essential services and burden human resource with prolonged period of election duty. My Government welcomes a constructive debate on simultaneous conduct of elections to lok Sabha and State legislative Assemblies. Funding of elections to eradicate misuse of money power also needs to be debated,” he said.
In the speech, which is the Government’s narrative on what it had done during the year and what it plans to do in the new financial year, the President said the Government would welcome any decision taken by Election Commission in this regard after consultations.
Referring to the surgical strikes, Mukherjee said the Government had taken decisive steps to give a fitting reply to the repeated incursions on India’s territorial sovereignty. “On September 29, 2016, our Defence forces successfully conducted surgical strikes at several launch pads along the line of Control to prevent infiltration by terrorists. We are proud of the exemplary courage and valour displayed by our defence personnel and owe a debt of gratitude to them,” he said.
Touching on the demonetisation decision, the President said the resilience and forbearance demonstrated by the countrymen especially the poor, recently in the fight against blackmoney and corruption, is remarkable.
On the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the President said the Government is thankful to the GST Council for working to resolve outstanding issues. He also said India has been widely acclaimed as the bright spot in the global economy at a time when the global growth has been slow.
The rate of inflation, the balance of payments, the current account deficit and the fiscal deficit have been consistently reduced since 2014. Mukherjee said foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign exchange reserves have reached record levels. The country's macro economic fundamentals are very strong, creating a platform for sustained high growth.
FDI inflows in 2015-16 were USD 55.6 billion, the highest-ever for any financial year and the Government further liberalised FDI policy provisions in various sectors in June 2016.
On terrorism, the President said India has been facing the grave challenge for the last four decades. “Terrorism poses a serious danger to the global community. India will actively collaborate with other nations in decisively defeating these forces. My Government is committed to combating terrorism and to ensure that the perpetrators of such acts are brought to justice,” he said.
Mukherjee said Jammu & Kashmir has been affected by terrorism sponsored and supported from across the border. He also noted that there has been a considerable success in containing left-wing extremism over the last three years with the surrender of 2,600 extremist.
Referring to 30 million overseas Indians settled in almost every corner of the world, he said the Government will maximise the strength of Indian diaspora in nation building and for deepening global outreach.
“Our fellow citizens have exhibited great solidarity with our endeavours in transforming India. My Government reiterates its commitment to fulfill the aspirations of our citizens,” he added.