The President’s Address in the Current Budget Session was the first time it was delivered in the Lok Sabha, and not the Central Hall of Parliament. That is like playing a key match at Wimbledon on (a new) Court One and not the iconic Centre Court.
We swotted up the President’s Address speeches delivered in the last 10 years. Here is a list of eight terms repeatedly used by this government in the last decade that hardly got a single mention in the speech they wrote this year.
Doubling farmers’ income: “My Government is striving day and night to attain the goal of doubling farmers income.” President’s Address, 2019.
No actual assessment of farmers’ incomes has been carried out by the Union government since 2013. Incomes needed to grow by 10 per cent year-on-year from 2015 in order to double by 2022. In reality, the growth in farmers’ incomes has been around 3.5 per cent. Pipe dreams. Thirty people involved in the farming sector committed suicide every day in 2022.
Demonetisation: “To combat the evils of black money, corruption, counterfeit currency and terror financing, my government took the decision on November 8, 2016, to demonetise old five hundred and one thousand rupee currency notes.” President’s Address, 2017.
Demonetisation was an act of economic terrorism that failed to achieve any of its stated objectives. Black money, counterfeiting, or terrorism, have certainly not been reduced, leave alone eliminated. Ninety-nine per cent of demonetised currency was returned.
Smart Cities Mission: “My Government has initiated the Smart Cities programme, envisaging city development in a challenge mode.” President’s Address, 2016.
Launched in 2015 but consigned to oblivion in the President’s Address in 2024. Full of buzzwords like innovation, integration, convergence, but no concrete definition of what actually constitutes a smart city. Between 2015 and 2021, of the 33 cities selected in the first round (including fast-track), the Union government released no funds to two cities for four years, 13 cities for three years, 12 cities for two years, and five cities for one year.
Namami Gange: “Namami Gange”, an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission has been set up with a budgetary allocation of more than 2000 crore.” President’s Address, 2015.
Launched in 2014, this scheme’s target was to clean the Ganga by 2019. Fact 1: Pollution levels in the river are higher than the levels recorded in 2014. Fact 2: The highest concentration of microplastic pollutants was found in the Prime Minister’s own constituency, Varanasi. Fact 3: The National Ganga Council formed in 2016, and headed by the PM, held its first meeting only after three years in 2019.
Jobs/unemployment: “While focusing our attention on manufacturing to create more jobs, my Government will continue to work on our formidable strength in the service sector.” President’s Address, 2015
This year, not a word about unemployment. The unemployment rate among youth in the age group 20-24 years was 45 per cent in the October-December 2023 quarter. Forty-two per cent of graduates under 25 years are unemployed in India. While India will need to create 7 crore jobs over the next 10 years, it is projected to only create 2.4 crore jobs.
Sagarmala Project: “Government has also formulated Sagar Mala Project to promote Port-led development of the coastal regions and communities.” President’s Address, 2015
In 2023, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture had cast a scathing critique on the lacklustre progress of funds utilisation within the Sagarmala project. The report noted that the “actual expenditure is only half of the BE allocation”. As a glaring indictment, during the Demands for Grants 2022-23, the committee underscored that out of the 44 projects in development, 31 projects had not received any funds.
Bullet train project: “My Government is committed to the construction of world-class Railways. Work on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-speed bullet train has commenced.” President’s Address, 2018
With much ballyhoo, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project’s bhoomi pujan ceremony was held in 2017. Despite initially setting a completion target of 2022, subsequent reports indicate a shift in deadlines, particularly for the Vapi-Sabarmati section. Now slated for completion by 2027, a 10-year delay. Concurrently, the project cost has surged, from the initial estimate of Rs 1.08 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore.
Swachh Bharat Mission: “It is our collective responsibility to pay a befitting tribute to Pujya Bapu by making the country Swachh by 2019 when we celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.” President’s Address, 2018.
After all the hype and hoopla, this has now been reduced to just one sentence in this year’s address. In an answer to a question in Rajya Sabha in 2023, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment stated that 308 persons have died while undertaking hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks in the last five years. This, despite the fact that manual scavenging has been banned in the country since 2013.
Another speech from Prime Minister Modi’s government. Another jhola of empty promises.
The writer is Member of Parliament and Leader, All India Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party (Rajya Sabha)
Additional Research by Ayashman Dey, Rohini Narayanan
