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250 mn people lifted out of poverty over past decade: President
ARCHIS MOHAN
New Delhi, 31 January
President Droupadi Murmu
said on Wednesday that the
centuries-old yearning to build
a Ram temple in Ayodhya has
become a reality. She listed the
government’s achievements
over the past 10 years, including
policies that helped lift 250 mil-
lion people out of poverty.
In her 75-minute address to
the members of both Houses of
Parliament assembled in the
Lok Sabha (LS) chamber of the
new Parliament building,
Murmu said that the govern-
ment believes the grand edifice
of a developed India would
stand on the four strong pillars
of youth power, women power,
farmers, and the poor.
The President spoke of wel-
fare measures for the poor,
pointing to the steps taken to
increase farm incomes, welfare
schemes for women, and efforts
at skilling and employment
generation for the youth. She
said that the government “has
spent a significant portion of
the tax revenues to empower
these pillars”.
Murmu said, in what was
her maiden speech in the new
Parliament building, that eco-
nomic reforms undertaken by
the government have trans-
formed India from the group of
“fragile five” to the “top five”
economies in the world. This
includes the adoption of
the goods and services tax
(GST) and the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code.
She spoke of the economy
maintaining a growth rate of
over 7.5 per cent for two con-
secutive quarters amid global
crises, the increase in the sales
of motor vehicles, including
electric vehicles since 2014,
the rise in GST revenues,
the doubling of the number
of income-tax filers, increase
in exports, and construction
of roads, railway tracks, and
other infrastructure.
The President lauded parlia-
mentarians for enacting the
Women’s Reservation Bill,
paving the way for greater par-
ticipation of women in the LS
and the Legislative Assemblies.
“This strengthens my gov-
ernment’s resolve for women-
led development,” she said, list-
ing several measures that the
government had undertaken to
assist women, such as more
accessible bank credit and facil-
itating their representation in
the Armed Forces.
Alluding to the Congress’
1971 campaign slogan, Murmu
said: “Since childhood, we have
been hearing the slogan of
‘Garibi Hatao’. Now, for the first
time in our lives, we are wit-
nessing the eradication of
poverty on a massive scale,” she
said, adding that according to
NITI Aayog, in the past decade,
250 million Indians have been
lifted out of poverty, instilling
immense confidence among
the poor for a better future.
After Murmu’s speech,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
in a post on X, said the
President’s address highlighted
the vision of further developing
India in the coming years.
The President mentioned
that in the past 10 years, India
witnessed several tasks being
accomplished in the national
interest for which the people of
the country had been waiting
for decades.
“For centuries, there was an
IN THE PAST 10 YEARS
aspiration to construct the Ram WE HAVE SEEN
Mandir. Today, it is a reality,”
INDIA TRANSFORM
Murmu said. She stated that
FROM ‘FRAGILE FIVE’ TO
within five days of the temple’s
opening, 1.3 million devotees A ‘TOP FIVE’ ECONOMY
had visited Ayodhya Dham.
She termed the consecration
ceremony at the Ram temple THIS (WOMEN RESERVATION
on January 22 as an “epochal BILL) STRENGTHENS
moment” and mentioned
more pilgrims visiting Kashi MY GOVERNMENT’S
Vishwanath and Mahakal RESOLVE
temple in Ujjain. FOR WOMEN-LED
She appreciated the govern-
ment’s efforts to control DEVELOPMENT
inflation despite global crises, DROUPADI
especially during the Covid-19 MURMU
pandemic and wars. President