Budget Session 2021: President Ram Nath Kovind addressed a joint sitting of parliament.
Three controversial laws at the core of farmer protests have been paused by the Supreme Court and the government will respect the order, President Ram Nath Kovind said today while strongly defending the measures. The government is trying to tackle misgivings over the laws, he told parliament in his traditional budget session address, which was boycotted by 19 opposition parties in support of the farmers' demand that the three laws be repealed.
Addressing a joint sitting of parliament on the opening day of the Budget session, the President also condemned as "very unfortunate" the violence during the Republic Day tractor rally by farmers in Delhi.
"Farmers recently carried out a tractor rally. However, there was violence during the protests and there were incidents of insult to the national flag at Red Fort on Republic Day. This was very unfortunate," President Kovind said.
"If the Constitution gives us the right to freedom of expression, it also reaches us to take laws and rules seriously," he said.
On the farm laws, he said they were passed after extensive deliberations and had "immediately benefited" 10 crore small farmers.
"Today there are more than 80 per cent small farmers, who number over 10 crore. The biggest beneficiaries of the new farm laws are these small farmers. They immediately started benefiting from these agricultural reforms," said President Kovind.
During the address, some opposition MPs, including Congress's Ravneet Singh Bittu and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party's Hanuman Beniwal, raised slogans like ''Jai Jawan Jai Kisan'' and demanded that the laws be cancelled.
Mr Bittu said he broke ranks to be present for the speech to express his solidarity with the farmers.