President Ram Nath Kovind will address the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha at Parliament House in New Delhi today.
The speech will officially commence the Budget Session of Parliament. However, the legislative business in both Houses will begin tomorrow.
While it is a tradition for the President to address the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament at the beginning of the first session every year, this speech assumes significance as it is the last session of the 16th Lok Sabha.
The address is expected to begin at 11.00 am -- the time at which Parliament convenes every day while in session.
According to reports, the President’s address is likely to list of achievements of the Centre in its tenure so far.
The legislative business of the Budget Session will begin tomorrow with the presentation of the Interim Budget.
The legislative business of Parliament will begin tomorrow (February 1) with the presentation of the Interim Budget.
That's all from the President's address. Stay tuned to Moneycontrol for the latest news and analysis.
For more on what is expected during the Budget Session, click here
Vice President M VenkaiahNaiduhas concluded his address.
President Ram Nath Kovind has concluded his address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu is now addressing the gathering.
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“Under the Jan Dhan Yojana, 34 crore people have opened a bank account and almost every family in the country is connected to the banking system. According to an international agency, 55 percent of the total bank accounts opened between the year 2014 and 2017, were opened in India,” President Kovind has said.
“The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will make it easier to provide Indian citizenship to those who had to take refuge in India after facing oppression somewhere else. They were not at fault, they were victims of situations like that,” the President has said on the contentious issue.
“In the year 2014, only 59 village panchayats had access to digital connectivity in the country. Today, 1.16 lakh gram panchayats have been added to the optical fiber network and Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed in about 40,000 gram panchayats,” Presdident Kovind has said.
Women have been the greatest beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. Sex crore women have also joined self-help groups under the Deendayal Antodaya Yojana. Maternity leaves have been extended from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
“Government is taking steps to improve the quality of education,” President Kovind has said and hailed setting up of Atal Thinking Laboratories.
My government is trying to bring about an end to the practice of triple talaq. It has also taken the historic step to provide reservation to the economically weaker and poor: President Kovind
