President Murmu focuses on govt's development thrust in maiden address

Laying out the government's vision for building a developed India in the next five years, President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday underlined its thrust on 'virasat' (heritage) as well as 'vikas' (development) and said it has worked for all without any discrimination.

In her first address to the joint sitting of Parliament on the first day of the Budget session, the president said people have been given basic amenities missing for decades and modern infrastructure long aspired for is being built across the country. She cited the expansion of the digital network and the crackdown on corruption during the Modi government's tenure.

The government has ushered in many positive changes in its nearly nine years in power and the biggest has been that the self confidence of every Indian is at its peak, the president said.

The world has changed the way it looks at India, she said during her more than hour-long speech.

While India used to depend on others to solve its problems, it is now working to solve global problems, Murmu, India's first tribal president, said.

She emphasised the government's approach of combining tradition with modernity and said it had always kept national interest supreme.

The president highlighted the government's cultural, development and pro-poor agenda, noting that it has worked to build a Ram temple as well as a modern building of Parliament, the Kedarnath dham as well as medical colleges. India, she said, emerged as a space power and a centre for innovation.

If it has has followed the path shown by saints like Shankaracharya and Guru Nanak, it has also been striving to make India a hub of high-tech knowledge, Murmu said.

The president's address reflects the views of the government of the day.

She urged people to discharge their duties to the maximum to build in the next 25 years a developed India connected to its past glory and containing every golden chapter of modernity.

'Amrit kaal', described by the government as the 25-year period culminating in the centenary of India's independence, is the time to build an India which is 'aatmanirbhar' (self reliant) and also fulfils its humanitarian obligations, she said.

It will be an India with no poverty and a prosperous middle class and one whose youth and women are at the vanguard of guiding the nation, the president said, amid frequent thumping of desks by lawmakers at the Central Hall of Parliament.

"India now has a government which is stable, fearless and decisive and which works to fulfil big dreams. It has a government which respects honesty and works to solve the poor's problems and empower them permanently," she said.

The government has fulfilled the aspirations of the deprived sections of society, the president said.

"The speed and scale at which my government has been working is unprecedented and incomparable," she said, noting that on an average nearly 11,000 homes for the poor have been built, 55,000 gas connections given and over Rs 700 crore loan tendered under the Mudra scheme daily.

She also highlighted the strides the country has made in aviation and defence sectors besides in expanding the Metro and rail networks under the government. Defence export has risen by six times, the president noted.

"India has begun benefitting from the success of 'made in India' and 'aatmanirbhar Bharat' programmes," she said.