Sir, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in the General Discussion in the Interim General Budget presented by the hon. Leader of the House and Ministry of External Affairs and the Minister of Finance, Shri Pranab Mukherjee. The UPA Government has stablised the economy. There cannot be two opinions about this. India is successfully coming out of the global economic crisis. This is certainly due to our UPA Chairperson, madam sonia gandhi and our prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. The UPA Government has taken very effective steps to meet the situation. On every front, the UPA Government has made great strides. It is therefore everyone to see. The Government has come out with bail out packages and has given fillip to the economy to ensure that no sector of the country is affected. Before I conclude my speech, I would like to lay stress on the technology upgradation fund which is meant for the textile industry. The government is allowing using this Fund to be utilised only by profit making companies. I would strongly urge the Government to allow the sick units to avail the funds from the Technology Upgradation Fund so that they can modify their units and prosper. I hope the Government would consider my request for the benefits of the textile industry in my home state, Andhra Pradesh. I regret to say that the Interim Budget which was presented by Hon'ble Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee has been prepared with an eye on the coming elections. When claims are made that many policies are being implemented for the common man, it would be pertinent to remember what eminent economist and Congress MP Shri Arjun Sen Gupta has mentioned in his report. He mentions about the seventy seven percentage of our population. He would stay in Aims at night and leave for Kolkata in the morning. Mr. Chatterjee was flown to the hospital on a Calcutta High Court order after the ED objected to his admission to Hospital in Kolkata on saturday. He was arrested on saturday and sent to two day custody of the ED. The Minister, however, complained of uneasiness. He had to be admitted to SSKM hospital based on a local courts order. The Ordinance pertained only to health workers involved in Covid-19 treatment. "From the RTI reply, however, it looks like the government is not keen on expanding the ambit of the Ordinance to all healthcare workers, he said. Diseases Act, 1897, the them Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said that there was a dramatic decline in the mumber of incidents of violence.
