President Kovind slams Republic Day violence, defends farm laws, says Modi govt for farmer welfare

President Kovind slams Republic Day violence, defends farm laws, says Modi govt for farmer welfare

President Ram Nath Kovind addressed a joint session of the Parliament on Friday to mark the beginning of the Budget Session and paid tributes to late President Pranab Mukherjee and also lauded India for its massive vaccination drive.

President Ram Nath Kovind addressed a joint session of the Parliament on Friday to mark the beginning of the Budget Session and paid tributes to late President Pranab Mukherjee and also lauded India for its massive vaccination drive.

President Ram Nath Kovind said, “It is a matter of pride that India is running the biggest vaccination programme in the world. Both vaccines of this programme are made in India. In this crisis, India shouldered its responsibility towards mankind and provided lakhs of doses of vaccines to several nations.”

Speaking on the contentious issue of retaining the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) regime, President Kovind said, “We implemented the Swaminathan Commission report on MSP. We are focussing on micro irrigation.”

“We are happy that farmers are getting the benefits of several scheme taken by the government. The country witnessed record production of crops, fruits and vegetables. The government has taken several decisions for small farmers,” added President Kovind, lauding the efforts of the Modi government.

Speaking of the three farm laws that have put the Modi government in a tight spot with thousands of farmers launching massive protests across states, President Kovind took to defending the laws.

He said, “The government has implemented three farmer's bills after proper consultation seven month back. This is going to benefit 10 crore small farmers. Many political parties supported these views in the past. These bills were debated properly in the Parliament, but have now been put on hold after a Supreme Court decision.”

President Kovind added, “My government would like to clarify that the rights and facilities that were available before the formation of the three farm laws have not been cut short, in fact with these new agricultural reforms the government has provided new facilities and rights to farmers.”

PRESIDENT KOVIND ON INDIA'S VACCINE EFFORTS

President Kovind said on Friday, “In this fight against the pandemic, we lost many citizens. Former President Pranab Mukherjee passed away in this Covid-19 period. Six MPs left us untimely due to Covid. I pay my tributes to all of them.”

“I am satisfied that the timely decision taken by my Government saved the lives of lakhs of citizens. Today the number of new Covid cases is going down rapidly. The number of recoveries is very high,” said President Kovind.

President Kovind said in his address, “The joint session of Parliament amid coronavirus pandemic was essential. It's a new year and a new decade and we're also entering the 75th year of Independence. Today, all MPs are present here with the message and trust that however tough be the challenge neither we, nor India will stop.”

A total of 19 opposition parties are boycotting the President’s address in protest against the Modi government’s handling of the farmers’ protest, economic crisis, job losses and other issues.