Following the agriculture-focused Union Budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that "the dawn of a new era in farming is in sight". In his motion of thanks to President Pranab Mukherjee's address in the Upper House, Modi said, "Let us aim to double the income of farmers by 2022." The prime minister spoke of value addition and more productivity in the agriculture sector. Modi also said that cleanliness is becoming a mass movement in the country. "Our parliament never debated on cleanliness after independence until now... The government may be criticised, but the issue is being discussed," he said.
Modi thanked the Opposition for letting Parliament function in the ongoing Budget session. He then appealed for all the pending bills in the Rajya Sabha to be passed, saying it will give momentum to the country's progress. "This is a chamber of ideas, it must guide nation. Coordination between the [upper and lower] houses is essential. The nation is waiting for us to pass many bills," he said.
Talking about his own government's work, Modi said, "We have focused on policy-driven governance and given an importance to transparency...We are focusing on accountability. I am reviewing infrastructure projects, some of which were stalled for decades." The prime minister added that the government is trying to ensure that the benefit of subsidies only goes to deserving people.
Modi also took a dig at the Congress, saying the party never gets criticised in the media. "When we criticise the Congress, it is reported as criticism of the Opposition, not criticism of the Congress," he said. Modi later added, "The Congress is monitoring our work with a microscope. If only they had worked even with binoculars when they were in power."
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