Lok Sabha today continued the discussion on the Union Budget 2022-23. Participating in the discussion, Congress member M. K. Raghavan said the present government should thank Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for setting up so many public sector undertakings.

National Conference leader Dr Farooq Abdullah demanded to give industry status to tourism. He charged that apple growers of Jammu and Kashmir are in a bad state as apples from Iran are being imported without taxes.

BJP member Dr Heena Gavit complimented the government for Jal Jeevan Mission saying it is doing away with the pain of women carrying water in pots on their heads from long distances.

Mahabali Singh of the JD (U) said the Opposition criticizes the government initiatives though it takes efforts for giving housing and drinking water for all.

The BJP member LS Tejaswi Surya said the NDA Government’s last four budgets reflect the Government’s commitment and conviction to economic reforms. He said the growth in the start-up ecosystem in the country reflects the enormous opportunities that are available in the country.

M Selvaraj of the CPI urged the Centre to establish at least one Kendriya Vidyalaya school in every district. He asked to make all infrastructure including mobile phone facilities available for the poor students to pursue their online education.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman intervened to state that the Centre has made a provision to increase the educational television channels to 200, adding, educational content in regional languages can also be made available through them.

Supriya Sule of the NCP charged that the fiscal deficit has increased from three percent to 6.9 percent under the present government, breaching the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Management Act.

Minister Nirmala Sitharaman intervened to say that the ceiling on fiscal deficit has been breached many times earlier as well, adding that the present situation is due to the two-years of pandemic that required heavy spending even when the economy was affected. On the one lakh crore rupees package announced in the Union Budget for the states, she clarified that it is interest-free. Ms Sitharaman said it would not affect their borrowing limits. She said they are intended to help the states to meet their capital expenditure needs and to speed up key projects.

Ms Sule asked the Centre to help the states to tackle the stressful financial situations.

Professor Sougata Ray of the AITC said the World Bank has discontinued the release of the Ease of Doing Business report, which has been referred to in the Budget. He said the capital expenditure in actual terms has come down as compared to the last year’s budget.

The BJP’s Dr Sanjay Jaiswal said the incentives under the PM Awaz Yojana have been enhanced, the number of start-up’s have increased, and the poor are getting free gas connections. The Discussion is on.