President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday addresses both Houses of Parliament on the first day of the Budget Session. The President appreciated the Narendra Modi government's efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 and India's united fight against the deadly virus. He stressed upon the government's schemes in various sectors and their benefit for the common man.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Ministers, MPs attended the one-and-half hour long address. The President condemned the violence and insult to the national flag during the farmers' tractor parade on Republic Day.

The Economic Survey will be presented today. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on February 1.

Here are the highlights from the President's address:

# Besides fulfilling the domestic requirements, India has provided necessary medicines to more than 150 countries. India is also committed to ensuring the availability of vaccines on a global scale: President

# Twenty jawans made the supreme sacrifice in the Galwan Valley in June 2020. Every citizen is grateful to these martyrs. My government is committed to the protection of the interests of the nation. Extra forces have been deployed at LAC for the protection of India's sovereignty: President

# Extremism in the northeast is heading towards its end, the incidents of violence are declining. The youth that had gone astray is returning to the mainstream of development and nation-building. The rehabilitation of BRU refugees is being carried out peacefully. The historic Bodo Peace Agreement was also signed and successfully implemented. Bodoland Territorial Council election took place successfully after the agreement: President

# 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

# Previous governments also tried construction of a new Parliament building. It is a coincidence that a new Parliament building would come up as the nation would celebrate 75 years of Independence. Every MP would be provided with all the facilities to carry out their duties: President

# 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: President

# Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu raises slogans during President's address in Parliament, demanding the repeal of three farm laws.

# My government 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 government has provided new facilities and rights to farmers: President

# In 2013-14, only 42 lakh hectares of land was under micro-irrigation whereas today, more than 56 lakh hectares of land have been brought under micro-irrigation. Today, the food grain availability in the country is at a record high. In 2008-09, the food grain production in the country was 234 million tonnes, whereas in 2019-20, the production has increased to 296 million tonnes.

# In the agricultural sector, the need of the hour is to focus our attention on the small and marginal farmers who own only 1 or 2 hectares of land. More than 80% of the farmers in the country numbering over 10 crore fall under this category. To support such farmers in their small expenses, around Rs 1,13,000 crore have been transferred directly to their accounts, under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi: President

# Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has also benefitted small farmers of this country. Under this scheme in the last 5 years, about Rs 90,000 crore has been paid as compensation to the farmers against a premium of Rs 17,000 crore.

# The government has, over the last 6 years, attempted to bring a positive transformation in the ‘Seed to Market’ system so that Indian agriculture is modernized and also sees growth. The government is not only purchasing record quantities at the MSP, but is also increasing the number of procurement centres. the government decided to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee report and increased the MSP to at least 1.5 times the cost of production: President

# Aatmanirbhar Bharat is not limited to 'Make in India'. It is to uplift every citizen and boost the country's self-confidence: President

# Last year, the government increased 50,000 seats at undergraduate and post-graduate medical institutes. Under Pradhan Mantri Swasthaya Suraksha Yojana, the government has approved the construction of 22 new AIIMS: President

# 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 7,000 centres across the country, under Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana: President Kovind

# 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 and provided lakhs of doses of vaccines to several nations: President

# 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: President

# 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-19. I pay my tribute to all of them: President

# The joint session of Parliament amid COVID-19 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 the message and trust that however tough is the challenge, neither we nor India will stop, says President.

First Published:Jan 29, 2021 11:21 AM IST