New Delhi: Parliament has passed The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The bill had already been passed by the Rajya Sabha. Responding to the discussion on the Bill, Home Minister Amit Shah said Panchayati Raj has started in Jammu and Kashmir after NDA government came to power. He said, many of the J&K residents, who did not receive electricity in the past 70 years, got it in the past seven months. He stated that Jammu and Kashmir has been the top priority of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a lot of development projects have been taken up in the UT. He said, government wants to make Jammu and Kashmir self-reliant and emphasized that development will reach even the remotest areas.
The Home Minister said, ” The Opposition is asking what the NDA Government has done for Jammu and Kashmir since 2019. He asked what the Opposition could do for Jammu and Kashmir for 70 years. Mr Shah said, those who were given the opportunity to govern for generations should ask themselves, if they are fit to demand an account. Can the three families, who have ruled in Jammu and Kashmir for years, tell what they have done for the health of the people there? I want to tell the House with pride that in 17 months, we have sent an amount of ₹881 crore from the ministry of health under PMDP (Prime Minister’s Development Package) in Jammu and Kashmir.”
“Panchayati Raj has been restarted in Jammu and Kashmir after our government came to power. Earlier, three people were ruling the family in Jammu and Kashmir, so they were in favour of Article 370. The elections to the lower panchayat in Jammu and Kashmir were held in December 2018 with 74% of the voter turnout. Kashmir had never witnessed voting on this scale in history,” said Amit Shah.
“Around 3,650 sarpanches were elected there, 33,000 panchs were elected. Now there will not be a leader from the dynasty of king and queen, the leader will be elected by vote. We have empowered the panchayats of Jammu and Kashmir. We gave them a budget. We have given 21 subjects of administration to the panchayats. We have put nearly ₹1,500 crore directly into bank accounts which has paved the way for the development of villages in Jammu and Kashmir. Does the Kashmiri youth not have the right to join the all-India cadre of the country? Had the schools not been torched, the children of Kashmir would have also become IAS (Indian Administrative Service) and IPS (Indian Police Service) today,” said Amit Shah.
He further said, “The government provides ₹13,000 per month to families of 44,000 Kashmiri Pandits who have relief cards. The government also provides free ration.
The biggest hurdle in the industry in Jammu and Kashmir was that they did not get land if they wanted to set up any industry there. After the withdrawal of 370, we changed the law of the land. Now the situation is such that the industries will be established inside Kashmir.”
Speaking about recent DDC polls, the home minister said: “Nobody, not even our rivals can say that there was fraud or unrest during the election (DDC). Everyone voted fearlessly and peacefully. 51% votes were cast in the Panchayat elections. Those who had fought the elections based on the issue of bringing back Article 370 have lost.
Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, the government showed a lot of dreams while bringing the bill, but Jammu and Kashmir has not returned to normalcy. He said, more than 90 thousand crore of local business has ended. He said, the NDA Government has not been successful in bringing back displaced Pandits to Jammu and Kashmir.
Finance Minister Sitharaman said Budget 2021-22 draws from the experience of the prime minister when he was chief minister when he saw so many revivals happening at that time.
“This Budget draws from the experience of the PM when he was CM – on the ground in Gujarat, seen so many revivals happening at a time when the license quota raj was going away post-1991 & then based on that experience, commitment to reform was blended into this Budget,” she added.
On BJP consistently believing in India, the FM, in reply to the discussion on Budget 2021 in Lok Sabha said, “Respecting Indian entrepreneurial skills, Indian managerial skills, Indian trade skills, Indian business skills, Indian youth, Jana Sangh onwards, BJP has consistently believed in India. We didn’t borrow something from somewhere and gave a hybrid.”
On agricultural allocation in the budget, the FM said, “Data in the budget regarding agriculture allocation has been ‘misread’. A total of ₹1.15 lakh crore has been transferred to 10.75 crore farmers through the PMKSY.”
On allocations to the core health, FM Sitharaman said, “I will firmly establish that in spite of bringing water and sanitation, the allocations to the core health has not come down. On the contrary, it has gone up.”
“In the Budget speech, I very clearly said, we’re taking a holistic approach to health. It is addressing preventive health, it is addressing curative health, it is also addressing well-being. Otherwise, you are not going to get holistic health-related governance,” the Finance Minister said.
Speaking about the PM, FM Sitharaman said Modi is working for the Dalits, backward and poor people. “People of India believe, have faith in the prime minister,” Sitharaman said.
On defence allocation, FM Sitharaman says, “There is mention about Defence getting no mention in speech, why hiding details about Defence?… ₹1,16,931 cr Defence expenditure in 2013-14, this being so huge, unless we pair it down into 3 compartments, you aren’t going to get a true picture-Revenue, Capital, Pension.”
“I’ll read up figures to say what’s the allocation now…Under revenue ₹1,16,931 crores in 2013-14, ₹86,741 crores capital in 2013-14, under pensions ₹44,500 in 2013-14. What is it now? ₹2,09,319 under revenue, ₹1,13,734 under capital & ₹1,33,825 under pension,” Sitharaman added.
On Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Hum 2 Hamare 2’ remark, the Finance Minister said, “‘Hum 2 hamare 2’ is that – we’re 2 people taking care of party and there are 2 other people who I’ve to take care, daughter and damad will take care of that. We don’t do that. ₹10,000 is given to 50 lakh street traders as working capital for 1 year. They aren’t anyone’s cronies.”
Later, Lok Sabha Speaker adjourned the house till 8th March.