Takeaways from President’s joint address to Parliament

President Pranab Mukherjee said in his address to joint session of Parliament that the government is committed to combat terrorism and to ensure that perpetrators of such acts are brought to justice.

New Delhi, Jan 31: President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said the Budget Session of Parliament was historic as it heralded the advancement of the budget cycle as also the merger of the railway budget with general budget. "This is a historic session heralding the advancement of the budget cycle and merger of the railway budget with general budget for the first time in independent India," said Mukherjee addressing members of both the houses.

Here are the highlights:

• Infiltration attempts, terror incidents, loss of lives in J&K is a matter of grave concern
• India ratified Paris agreement on 2nd Oct 2016, thereby sending a strong message of our commitment to combating climate change
• My Govt is thankful to the GST council for working to resolve the outstanding issues
• By the end of the year, all Meter-Gauge tracks in the north-eastern states will be converted to Broad-Gauge
• Government has approved North East BPO promotion scheme for creation of employment opportunities

• Resilience and forbearance demonstrated by countrymen recently in fight against black money and corruption is remarkable
• Janashakti (people's power) has transformed Swachh Bharat Mission into a jan-andolan (people's movement)
• My government salutes the strength of janashakti and pledges to constructively utilise it in Rashtra Nirman
• At the core of all my government's policies is the welfare of the garib, dalit, peedit, shoshit, vanchit, kisan, shramik &yuva (the poor, the downtrodden, the farmers, the labourer, the destitute and the youth)
• An unprecedented 26 crore-plus Jan Dhan accounts have been opened for the unbanked
• Close to 13 crore poor have been covered under various social security schemes
• Over Rs 2 Lakh Crore has been provided through 5.6 crore loans sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
• My government is committed to provide shelter to every houseless poor household through the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana
• 37 percent of the Ujjwala beneficiaries belong to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
• India launched 8 operational missions covering meteorological, navigation, earth observation & communication satellites

The budget will be presented on Wednesday. The session will take a break from February 9, reconvene on March 9 and end on April 12.

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