The discussion on the Union Budget 2024-25, presented on July 23, will continue in both Houses of Parliament on Thursday.

The discussion on Budget of Jammu and Kashmir, 2024-25, which was also presented on Tuesday, will also continue today.

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Kirtivardhan Singh will lay papers on the table today.

Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar is likely to make a statement regarding status of implementation of recommendations and observations contained in the 250th report of the department-related parliamentary standing committee on Home Affairs on action taken by the government on the recommendations and observations contained in the 243rd report of the committee on demands for grants (2023-24) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.

-ANI

Congress MP Manish Tewari gave an adjournment notice on Thursday in the Lok Sabha, urging discussion on the border situation and huge trade deficit with China.

In his letter to the Secretary-General of Lok Sabha, Tewari highlighted ongoing border clashes between India and China and pointed out that China recently rejected the inauguration of the Seva tunnel and claimed parts of Arunachal Pradesh as its territory.

“…For the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent importance that this House do supend zero hour and relevant rules relating to question hour and other businesses of the day to have a discussion on the border situation and the huge trade deficit with China,” the letter mentioned.

“Since 2019, there have been ongoing border clashes between India and China, with reports of Chinese troops blocking access to patrolling points in Eastern Ladakh. Recently, China rejected the inauguration of the Seva tunnel and claimed parts of Arunachal Pradesh as its territory,” the letter added.

-ANI

Anita Subhadarshini, BJP MP, Aska (Odisha), raises question over Aska constituency being deprived of the railway service. She questions, “When will a final DPR will be sanctioned for the project?” 

Replying to the question, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Railway Minister says, “The funds allocation and progress of work in Odisha has seen huge increase in the last 10 years.” 

Mr. Vaishnaw says during the UPA regime, the funds allocated for a large and important state like Odisha was just ₹800 crore. He says, “Now the funds allocated are more than ₹10,000 crore every year for Odisha which is a huge jump from the previous years.”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Congress MP Jairam Ramesh after the all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of Parliament’s monsoon session, at Parliament House in New Delhi on Sunday, July 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

A day before the presentation of the Union budget, the Congress on Monday said the Centre must make three important announcements of making Minimum Support Price (MSP) a legal guarantee, fix MSP on the basis of the Swaminathan formula and establish a permanent commission to monitor the implementation of farm loan waivers.

Congress general secretary in-charge Jairam Ramesh said that of all the “failures” of the central government, the “incompetence and ill-will” of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare is the most damaging.

“While the UPA had raised the MSP of wheat by 119% and that of rice by 134%, the Modi government has raised it by 47% and 50% respectively. This is not at all enough to keep up with inflation and the rising prices of agricultural inputs,” Mr. Ramesh said in a statement.

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He pointed out that farmers’ debt has increased tremendously.

According to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), outstanding loans have increased by 58 per cent since 2013, he said.

“More than half of the farmers are debt-ridden. Since 2014, we have seen more than 1 lakh farmers die by suicide,” Ramesh said.

“The Central Government needs to make three key announcements for farm welfare in the upcoming Budget: Raise MSP for 22 crops that come under MSP, in line with the C2+50% formula as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission,” he said.

Mr. Ramesh said the government must give a legal status to MSP and establish a system to implement it firmly, including strategic procurement, better regulation and price differential compensation.

“All it takes is determination and courage,” he said.

Farm loan waivers

Mr. Ramesh also called for the establishment of a permanent commission to assess the need for, assess the magnitude of, and monitor the implementation of farm loan waivers.

This much-needed step will provide relief to debt-ridden farmers, he said in his statement in Hindi.

“Remember that the central government has all the power to take all three of these steps. It is just waiting for the self-proclaimed non-biological Prime Minister to show some courage and give up his stubbornness and take a decision in the interest of farmers,” Ramesh said.

“In November 2021, after the withdrawal of the three black farm laws, the self-proclaimed non-biological Prime Minister had announced the formation of a committee to review matters related to MSP. It took the government eight months to form the committee – and two years later, it has still not released an interim report,” he said, attacking PM Narendra Modi.

Had the government wanted, the report would have been released by now and MSP would have gotten legal status, he argued.

The Congress government in Telangana has started waiving farm loans for farmers in the State, he said.

“This will provide relief to a total of 40 lakh farmers on loans up to Rs 2 lakh. In 2008, the UPA led by Dr. Manmohan Singh had waived off farm loans worth Rs 72,000 crore. This benefited a large number of farmers, including 54 lakh farmers of UP, 42 lakh farmers of Maharashtra, 8.9 lakh farmers of Haryana, 17.6 lakh farmers of Bihar and 6.66 lakh farmers of Jharkhand,” Ramesh said.

“The government of the non-biological Prime Minister has waived off bank loans of Rs 16 lakh crore of capitalists. But on the other hand, despite receiving a record ₹2.11 lakh crore dividend from the RBI this year, it has not waived off even a single rupee of agricultural loan of the farmers,” he alleged.

“Will the self-proclaimed non-biological prime minister, who is still recovering from the wounds of the decisive personal, political and moral defeat on June 4, take these important steps for agricultural welfare?” Ramesh said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.