President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said the government has provided over Rs 2 lakh crore through 5.6 crore loans sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. Addressing the joint sitting of both houses of parliament, the President said that core of the government’s policies was the welfare of the poor, Dalits, farmers, labourers and the youth. “My government salutes the strength of janashakti (people’s power) and pledges to constructively utilise it in Rashtra Nirman (nation building),” Mukherjee added.
The 2017 budget session of the parliament began with President Pranab Mukherjee’s address to members of both the houses on Tuesday. Speaking to the legislators of the country, the President said that this was a historic session heralding advancement of the budget cycle and merger of general budget with rail budget for the first time. He praised the countrymen for going through the struggle of demonetisation and said that the resilience showed by the citizens, particularly the poor in the fight against black money and corruption was remarkable.
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The President praised the Modi government for having taken many initiatives to improve the quality of life of the poor, and the commitment to provide shelter.