New Delhi: The Budget Session of Parliament began today with strict observance of restrictions for coronavirus and President Ram Nath Kovind addressed the members of both Houses seated in three locations.
He congratulated the Central government for its "timely decision" to implement lockdown as it "saved the lives of lakhs of citizens", and pointed out that the number of new coronavirus cases was going down rapidly in the country.
President Kovind, in his address to a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament, also paid tribute to those who succumbed due to the virus.
"Joint sitting of Parliament amid Corona pandemic is essential. It's a new year, a new decade and we are also entering into the 75th year of independence. Today all MPs are present here with message and trust that however tough be the challenge neither we nor India will stop. In this fight against the pandemic, we lost many citizens. Former President Pranab Mukherjee passed away in this Corona period. Six MPs left us untimely due to COVID. I pay my tribute to all of them," he said.
"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," he added.
Commenting upon the vaccination drive against COVID-19 which started on January 26, President 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."
"We have seen huge benefits of the work done by my government in the last 6 years in the health sector during this corona crisis,"
President said that the facilities of Ayushman Bharat Yojana can be availed in any of the 24,000 hospitals across the nation. "The poor are getting medicines at very low costs at 7000 centres across the country, under Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana," he added.
The first part of the ongoing budget session will continue till February 15. The second part of the session will be held from March 8 to April 8.
Rajya Sabha will function from 9 am to 2 pm and Lok Sabha from 4 pm to 9 pm with Zero Hour and Question Hour.
Here are the Live updates from Parliament Budget Session 2021:
Jan 29, 2021 14:30 (IST)
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.
Jan 29, 2021 13:27 (IST)
Lok Sabha adjourned till Monday.
Jan 29, 2021 12:45 (IST)
Rajya Sabha will resume at 3 pm today; Economic Survey 2020-21 to be tabled at the Parliament today.
Jan 29, 2021 12:19 (IST)
Aatmanirbhar Bharat isn't just confined to manufacturing in India but also a campaign aimed at elevating the standard of living of every Indian and boosting self-confidence of the country. Our goal of Aatmanirbhar Bharat will be further strengthened by self-reliance in agriculture: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.
Jan 29, 2021 11:52 (IST)
The nation is recovering from the damage that the economy suffered while saving the life of every Indian during the Corona period. Even in this difficult time, India has emerged as an attractive destination for global investors: President Ram Nath Kovind.
Jan 29, 2021 11:26 (IST)
More than 10 crore small farmers have benefitted from farm laws. From time to time, some state governments have also appreciated it and extended support. Farmers recently carried out a tractor rally. However, there was violence during the protests and there were incidents of insulting that national flag at Red Fort on Republic Day. This was very unfortunate. Our Constitution, for which we celebrate our Republic Day, tells us about the freedoms we enjoy, but it also tells us our responsibility as citizens to ensure that having respect for the law and maintaining order is our duty.
Jan 29, 2021 11:16 (IST)
We have reached a time and place where we must reduce our dependence on others for our needs. We must work now to become aatma-nirbhar (self-reliant) and self-sufficient. We can achieve this... we have just seen this happen in the healthcare sector. Today India is successfully running the world's largest vaccination drive, all on its own. We need to do this in all aspects of life.
