PM Modi speaks on Demonetisation in Parliament for the first time

New Delhi: Speaking in Parliament for the first time on Demonetisation, PM Modi said it was a well throughout step, not taken in a haste. "This was the most appropriate time to take the decision as the economy was robust and the economic activities post-Diwali were in the resting mode," the Prime Minister said on Tuesday.

He said, contrary to misinformation campaign by the opposition, the decision of demonetisation was taken after due consideration and studying all aspects of the Indian economy.

"The decision was in infancy stage from the date I took over as the Prime Minister," said Modi.

He said,"Various committees had already suggested the same to previous Congress governments but they could take the decision due to their vested vote politics." He further said, "For my government the country is foremost not the electoral politics and that is why my government could take the decision to curb the black money menace. "

Further attacking on opposition for deliberately avoiding the debate on note ban issue, the PM said, "We were ready for discussion, but instead of discussion you(opposition) were more concerned about giving TV bytes.

What else PM said on Opposition's protest against Demonetisation:

• Someone had to take the responsibility to amend what had been going wrong in the country.
• 'Pehle hota tha - kitna gaya? Ab hota hai - Modiji kitna layein?' (Earlier people used to ask how much money the country lost, now the same population is asking, How much money did Modi bring), this is how discourse has changed after we have assumed office.
• It does not matter how big you are, you will have to give back what belongs to the poor. My fight is for the poor.
• Like Swachh Bharat, the decision on demonetisation is a movement to clean India (from corruption and black money)

In next slide: PM attacks Rahul Gandhi in parliament....

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while replying to the motion of thanks to President's address, in LS attacked Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi saying that the 'Yuvraj' of the Gandhi family thinks that the country got freedom from Britishers only because of the Gandhi-Nehru family.

"I have never heard him (Rahul Gandhi) speaking about the martyrs like Bhagat Singh and Azad. They (Congress) think and want to convey that the country got free because of only one family," said the PM.

In slide ahead: PM asks the MPs to cooperate with Centre for a better India...

PM Narendra Modi urged the Parliamentarians to join hands for better future of India. He asked all the Lok Sabha members to come understand their inner strength and support the government in planning a better road-map for India.

The PM stated, "Let us understand and appreciate the inherent strength of our people and take India to newer heights. Faith in Jan Shakti will give results."

PM Modi said that every member of the Parliament should take pride that he is serving the country. "There are many people like me, who couldn't die for nation during the freedom struggle but we are living for India and serving India," he said.

Replying to the opposition's statements regarding merging union and rail budget the PM said, "When Rail budget was first presented, transport sector was different. Now things are different and a more comprehensive look is needed."

In slide ahead: PM presents his report card in Parliament

• We have attached at least 84 projects of 17 ministries with direct benefit transfers.
• We successfully replaced 21,000 normal electricity bulbs with the LED bulbs and this has reduced the electricity bill paid by the households by Rs 11,000 crore.
• Now, middlemen no longer enjoy the benefits they did after we introduced ADHAR and technological transactions to stop the corruption and loot.
• Almost Four crore duplicate and illegal ration cards were seized with the implementation of this step.
• 22 lakhs 27 thousand houses were constructed in one year.
• The previous government had increased the MNREGA budget by 6oo crore Rupee but we increased it by Rs 11000 crore.
• The policies introduced in the 2017 budget will benefit 96 per cent small businessmen of the country.

In slide ahead: What other topics were discussed by the PM...

What else the Prime Minister said:

• I was surprised that there were some who made cleanliness also a political issue. Why can't we work together on ushering a Swachh Bharat?
• We are not bothered for the elections, We are concerned for the country.
• It is time to think about having LS and RS elections together; I know everybody will face some problems.
• Why was it that there were crop insurance schemes earlier but farmers were not keen to avail the benefits?
• Crop insurance was in existence earlier also, but farmers didn't want to avail it; It didn't secure the rights of farmers.
• Surgical strike was a big decision but none is questioning about it like they do about demonetisation.
• Many statements were made by political leaders 24hrs since surgical strike but their language changed after looking at nation's mood.