Facing a boycott from the leaders of 18 opposition parties, President of India Ramnath Kovind addressed members of both houses on Friday. The president's address is a customary speech delivered ahead of the starting of the Budget session. Opposition leaders of 18 parties have decided to boycott his address in solidarity with farmers protesting at Delhi’s borders against the three farm laws. The legislations were passed amid chaos in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon session last September.
Addressing the Parliament, President Kovind said, "Joint session of Parliament amid Corona pandemic is essential. It's a new year and a new decade and we're also entering into the 75th yr of independence. Today all MPs are present here with a 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."
"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. It is a matter of pride that India is running the biggest vaccination program in the world. Both vaccines of this program are made in India. In this crisis, India shouldered its responsibility towards mankind & provided lakhs of doses of vaccines to several nations."
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"The national flag and a holy day like Republic Day were insulted in the past few days. The Constitution that provides us Freedom of Expression, is the same Constitution that teaches us that law and rules have to be followed seriously. Small and marginal farmers are also a priority for my Govt. To support such farmers in their small expenses, around Rs 1,13,000 crores have been transferred directly to their accounts, under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi."
"My Govt would like to clarify that the rights and facilities that were available before the formation of the three Farm Laws have not been cut short, in fact with these new agricultural reforms the Govt has provided new facilities and rights to farmers," added Kovind.