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From calling for denouncing of attempts to undermine the credibility of the Mother of Democracy, India, to applauding Kashmir’s record voter turnout during the recent Lok Sabha polls, President Droupadi Murmu spoke on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and covered past highlights and new initiatives of the Central government on Thursday in the first joint sitting of the Houses following the constitution of the 18^th Lok Sabha.

 

The President’s speech touched upon development as well as welfare initiatives of the BJP-led NDA alliance in power at the Centre.

 

Under categories of ‘vikas’ to ‘virasat,’ progress of the country with focus on its cultural heritage, she said Nalanda University had been established and street vendors from rural and semi-urban areas were being included in the Prime Minister’s Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi).

 

Free treatment under Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) would also cover seniors over 70 now.

 

Job hunting would be easier too with interview processes scrapped for certain government jobs and self-attestation allowed for students’ certificates.

 

With the successful completion of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, she said, people should feel proud that India conducts such a large election exercise without any major violence and disorder.

 

Reflecting upon the massive population of voters handled expertly by the election commission, the President said "This was the largest election in the world. About 64 crore voters performed their duty with enthusiasm and zeal. Women cast their votes in huge numbers this time also. A very heartening aspect of this election emerged from Jammu and Kashmir." 

 

The Kashmir Valley broke records of voter turnout of many decades, she noted.

 

Hurting the faith of people in democratic institutions

"Today, the whole world respects us as the Mother of Democracy. The people of India have always demonstrated complete trust in democracy and expressed full faith in the electoral institutions," President Murmu told the members of the two Houses.

 

There was a need to preserve and protect this trust to sustain the country's robust democracy. "We must realise that hurting the faith of people in democratic institutions and the electoral process is like cutting the very branch on which we all are sitting," she said.

 

"We all should collectively denounce every attempt to undermine the credibility of our democracy," she said.

 

"We all remember those times when ballot papers were snatched and looted. To ensure the sanctity of the electoral process, it was decided to use EVMs. The EVM has passed every test, from the Supreme Court to the people's court, in the last few decades," she asserted.

 

President Murmu’s reference to EVM’s came after top political parties in the country, including the Congress, questioned the reliability of the Electronic Voting Machines. Some top opposition leaders have even urged the government to go back to the old paper ballot system for voting.

 

Successive chief election commissioners have maintained that EVMs are reliable and cannot be hacked. They have noted that the EVMs can at times become faulty but cannot be manipulated.

 

Several parties, which were in the opposition earlier, have come to power in elections conducted using EVMs.

 

Terming the suspicion of manipulation of the EVMs "unfounded", the Supreme Court had on April 26 rejected the demand for reverting to the old paper ballot system.

 

Progress and legacy

Murmu also hailed the new campus of Nalanda University, which was recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bihar.

 

"My government, along with making efforts to build a future, is also reviving the country's cultural heritage and glory. Recently, the new grand Nalanda University campus that was inaugurated has added a new chapter to this," she said.

 

She also underlined that various pilgrimage sites and centres of faith in the country are being rejuvenated so that people can get inspired by their ancient culture.

 

On the legacy of greats, she said tribal leader Birsa Munda's birth anniversary was celebrated as Janajatiya Gaurav Diwas and his 150th anniversary will be marked next year.

 

The 500th anniversary of the legendary Gondwana queen regent Rani Durgawati was celebrated and the 300th anniversary of Rani Ahilyabai Holkar was commemorated. Additionally, landmark years of Prakash Parv of Sikh gurus -- Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Gobind Singh -- have been observed in recent years, Murmu stated in her address, adding that Kashi Tamil Sangamam was organised to inspire people.

 

Progress or vikas was made in space exploration programmes, including to the landing of Chandrayaan-3 near the moon's south pole.

 

President Murmu said, as a country, "we should take pride in this" and added that India is on its way to becoming the world's third-largest economy.

 

The president said that in the third decade of the 21st century, global order is assuming a new form and as a "Vishwa Bandhu", India is giving new faith to the world.

 

Welfare schemes

The PM SVANidhi scheme will be expanded and street vendors in rural and semi-urban areas will also be brought under its ambit, Murmu informed Parliament.

 

The Scheme, launched by the Modi government in 2020 during the COVID-19 outbreak, is a micro-credit scheme for urban street vendors, which provides collateral-free loans of up to Rs 50,000.

 

On December 11, 2023, the then Union Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had informed in Rajya Sabha that loans disbursed to PM SVANidhi beneficiaries stood at Rs 2,039 crore in the 2020-21 fiscal, Rs 1,248 crore in 2021-22, Rs 1,866 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 4,637 crore up to December 5 of the current 2023-24 fiscal, taking the total to Rs 9,790 crore.

 

As of December 5, 2023, 56,58,744 street vendor beneficiaries had been disbursed loans under this scheme. 

 

Ayushman Bharat

Under AB-PMJAY, free health services weree being provided to 55 crore beneficiaries. Now, “the Government is going to take yet another decision in this area. All the elderly above 70 years of age will also be covered and get the benefit of free treatment under Ayushman Bharat Yojana," the President said.

 

No interviews, self-attestations

Citing self-attestation of certificates and abolishing interviews for certain categories of government job recruitment as key good governance initiatives, President Murmu on Thursday said all such obstacles for the country's youth have been removed.

 

The government is working towards creating an enabling environment for the youth of this country to dream big and realise those dreams, she added.

 

"In the last 10 years, every such obstacle which caused trouble to our youth has been removed. In the past the youth had to run from pillar to post in order to get their certificates attested. Now their self-attestation is sufficient.

 

"Interviews for recruitment into Group-C and Group-D posts of the central government have been abolished," the president said.

 

The continuous endeavour of the government to provide right opportunities to the youth of the country to demonstrate their talent.

 

"Whether it is competitive examinations or government recruitment there should be no reason for any hindrance. This process requires complete transparency and probity," Murmu said.

 

The statement assumes significance given the current protests over medical entrance test NEET-UG irregularities and cancellation of UGC-NET

 

She said the Lok Sabha poll has been an election of trust in policy, intention, dedication and decisions.

 

Murmu said it has been an election of "trust in a strong and decisive government", "trust in good governance, stability and continuity" and "trust in honesty and hard work," among others.

 

"It is a stamp of approval for my government’s mission of service and good governance undertaken in the past 10 years. It is a mandate that the work of making India a developed nation continues uninterrupted and India attains its goals," the President said.