In an address to the members of both the Houses of Parliament, India’s president Pranab Mukherjee, highlighted that the government has supported growth of marine products and fisheries sector through port- led development. He also spoke on the initiatives undertaken by the government. These include assistance for doing business, foreign direct investments (FDI), Act East agenda, goods and services tax, skill and training and reforms in agriculture. FDI Speaking on FDI, Mukherjee said, India has been widely acclaimed as a bright spot in the global economy, at a time when global growth has been slow. The rate of inflation, the balance of payments, current account deficit and the fiscal deficit have been consistently reduced since 2014. FDI and foreign exchange reserves have reached record levels. FDI inflows in 2015-16 were worth $55.6 billion, the highest-ever for any financial year. The government further liberalised FDI policy provisions in various sectors in June 2016, he added. The Centre is closely working with the state governments to identify constraints in doing business. India is ranked third in the list of top prospective host economies for 2016-18 in the World Investment Report 2016 released by UNCTAD, Mukherjee said. Commenting on the extending of loans by the government, the president said, Over Rs 2 lakh crore has been provided through 5.6 crore loans sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana to ensure collateral-free bank financing for the unfunded, and to promote small businesses. Seventy per cent of this has been availed of by women entrepreneurs. He added, The government sees the potential of the north-eastern states to take India to new heights with the Act East agenda, as the north-eastern states are the gateways to South-east Asia, which will soon be connected with road and rail routes to our neighbouring countries to boost the economic development and trade of the region. Speaking on the Sagarmala programme of development of ports to support fisheries and marine products, Mukherjee said, The government is committed to optimally harness our marine wealth and give a new impetus to ocean-led development. Under the Sagarmala programme on port-led development, a total of 199 projects with an outlay of over Rs 3 lakh crore have been identified for implementation in the next three years. Of these, projects of more than Rs 1 lakh crore are already under implementation, he added. The seas surrounding the Indian Peninsula contain 1,382 of our islands, out of which, to begin with, 26 have been earmarked for integrated development. The Blue Economy, with focus on sustainable development of fisheries will continue to receive our special attention, the president stated. Speaking about taxation, Mukherjee said, Taking forward the concept of cooperative federalism through One nation-One tax and One nation-One market, both Houses of Parliament passed the Goods and Services Tax Act. Seventeen states governed by political parties across the political spectrum ratified this in a record 23 days. The government is thankful to the GST Council for working to resolve outstanding issues, he added. Agriculture With the objective of digitisation of all the live Kisan Credit Cards, another three crore cards will be converted into Rupay debit cards soon. The corpus of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) fund has been doubled to Rs 41,000 crore to ensure easy credit access to farmers. The government has taken various steps to transform the lives of our farmers. The focus has been on holistic development of agriculture sector – making available affordable credit, ensuring assured supply of seeds and fertilisers, improving irrigation facilities, comprehensive risk coverage, improving productivity through soil health cards, assured market and remunerative prices for the produce through e-NAM (National Agriculture Market), Mukherjee said. In the welfare of the kisan lies the nation’s prosperity. A favourable monsoon after consecutive years of drought, supplemented by farmer-oriented schemes has increased the acreage and yield of most Kharif crops. The sown area in the current Rabi season has shown a six per cent increase in comparison to last year, he added. To support the agriculture economy, the president informed that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana had expanded the ambit of risk-coverage, doubled the sum insured, and facilitated lowest-ever premium for the farmers. During Kharif 2016, around 3.66 crore farmers were insured for a sum of Rs. 1.4 lakh crore. Speaking on the prices of pulses, which was a matter of grave concern around this time last year, he said, The government has taken proactive steps and the prices of pulses are now under control. To ensure a fair price for farmers and to protect the consumers, a buffer stock of 20 lakh tonnes of pulses has been envisaged, against which eight lakh tonnes of pulses have already been procured. Skill training, employment, addressing concerns of labour Sixty-five per cent of India’s population is below the age of 35. Our youth is our greatest strength and yuva urja needs to be effectively channelised. With the motto of Har Haath ko Hunar, the government has taken several steps to impart skills to the youth and improve their employability, Mukherjee said. The work of skill development, that was earlier spread across 21 ministries and 50 departments, has been brought under one umbrella ministry. The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana has been launched with a budget outlay of Rs 12,000 crore, to train one crore youth over the next four years, he added. Over 20 lakh youth have already benefited. The National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme has been launched with a budget outlay of Rs 10,000 crore. Nine hundred and seventy-eight employment exchanges spread across the country have been integrated as part of the National Career Service Portal, the president stated. With the objective of providing training of international standards to youth, a nationwide network of 50 India International Skill Centres is being established. The Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana has been launched for promoting entrepreneurship education and training amongst seven lakh students. Mukherjee stated, In order to address the interests of farmers, for the first time ever, minimum wages have been increased by 42 per cent in both the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. For bonus coverage, the calculation ceiling limit has been doubled to Rs 7,000, and the eligibility limit increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs 21,000. This will directly benefit an additional 55 lakh workers, he added. The Universal Account Number has ensured portability of EPF accounts and has safeguarded the interest of crores of workers, the president said. Commenting on labour and payments and the use of banks as a mode of payment, Mukherjee said, Workers employed in the informal sector will benefit the most from the government’s decision to enable employers to pay wages to their employees through banks. This will increase compliance of payment of minimum wages. It shall ensure that workers in the unorganised sector also enjoy health benefits under Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and social security through Provident Fund, he added.
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