Highlights: Lok Sabha adjourned till 4pm on March 8

The Lok Sabha has been adjourned until 4pm on March 8.

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that he objected to the statements of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman against Rahul Gandhi. "She should not indulge in such unparliamentary activity inside the House. Immediately, we took serious action to the comment made by her," he said.

The Lok Sabha passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

In another jibe to Manish Tewari, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the recession situation due to Covid-19 in Jammu & Kashmir was better than that of Congress ruled states like Punjab, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that even the BJP's rivals could not deny that there was no fraud or unrest during the J&K DDC polls. He said that 51% votes were cast in the Panchayat elections.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah slammed Mansih Tewari over the Congress' handling of Jammu & Kashmir. "Manish bhai (Manish Tewari), recall Congress days. Thousands killed, curfew imposed for days. Adjudge the situation on basis of data. Peace in Kashmir is a big thing. I don't want to recall the days of unrest. Such days won't be there (J&K) again as it's our Govt now," he said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 has nothing to do with J&K's statehood. Shah said that the union territory would be given statehood at an 'appropriate time'.

Amit Shah asks the opposition "Who pressurised you to not repeal Article 370 ?" He also asks "What do we do then ? Halt all the development projects ?"

Home minister Amit Shah asks parties in the house to not politicise the Jammu and Kashmir issue. He also asks "People asking questions on development, will they answer what they have done in the past 70 years ?"

MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal says that the Congress party is against national integration and their actions suggest they are anti development too. He also admires MP Malook Nagar's openness in criticising the Congress and for praising the government's initiatives despite being in the opposition. He says that the Congress party has lost direction and is sinking along with the opposition.

N K Premchand also suggests "Let an all party delegation to visit Jammu and Kashmir to assess the situation and have first hand information." He also urged the central government to bring back normalcy in J&K by protecting the civil rights of all people and to restore statehood.

Kerala MP says N K Premachandran says "First time in the history of India that a state has been divided into two Union territories. MHA assured that statehood stature of Jammu and Kashmir would be provided once when law and order is restored. What is the actual situation in Jammu Kashmir now ?"

BSP MP Malook Nagar says the finance minister has outlined a fair point that the Congress is not playing a good role as the opposition. He also says Rahul Gandhi should not think of himself as a professor and us as students.

Dr Jitendra Singh points out that Hasnain Masoodi and DMK parliamentarian are mistakenly saying that Article 370 has been repealed bypassing the Parliament.

MP Hasnain Masoodi says "There has been a rise in encounters. The move may have been aimed at development but due to the rise in encounters in rural and urban areas development has taken a backseat."

"If J-K administrators are given the responsibility for the development of the state it will be helpful as they are aware of the topography. We were always with India and we too want development."

Should BJP not accept that they were not able to rehabilitate Kashmiri Pundits ?Maybe it is time to rethink the J-K issue. Do things that reflect that you are committed to giving J-K statehood, take gradual steps at least.

"Abrogation of article 370 led to developmental activity in the Jammu and Kashmir region. Experienced UT administrators were sent their for social and infrastructure development," says MHA's G Kishan Reddy.

For minority affairs, ₹4,811 crores has been allocated in total which is a 8.6 per cent increase. For Scheduled Castes, ₹83,257 crore in 2020-21 budget and it has increased to ₹1,26,259 crore in BE 2021-22. For the Scheduled Tribes ₹53,653 crores in budget 2020-21 and it has been increased to ₹79,942 crores in BE 2021-22, says FM.

Nearly 9 crore farmers registered under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana, Rs. 6000 direct benefit transfers granted, Mudra Yojana loans have been sanctioned for 27 crore small business farmers.

"PM Awas Yojana more than 1.76 crores houses have been completed. Since October 2017, 2.67 crore houses have been electrified under the Saubhagya scheme, nearly 11 crore household toilets were constructed. Are these for cronies ?" asks FM.

PM Swanidhi Yojana not for cronies but tailored for small traders who are in the streets. ₹10,000 given to them as working capital for an year's tenure for 50 lakh street vendors.

The scheme lends to Dalits, backward class people, poor people and women and not for cronies, says FM.

Even during lockdown, we made announcements to support MSMEs by two ways -

1. Suspending some clauses of the IBC so that MSMEs wouldn't be pulled to courts, declared insolvent.
2. Extending dates for many payments, compliance to March 31, 2021. We also gave money to ensure working capital.

Business owners were notified by SMS, phone calls via banks that lending will be available and we ensured it, says FM.

"Congress party gives birth to good schemes but lacks the will to use them transparently. It uses them to favours the cronies," says FM.

Retorts to the 'Hum Do, Hamare Do' remarks made by Rahul Gandhi.

"In 2009-10 budget, ₹39,100 crore was allocated and ₹33,000 crore was used. In 2015-16 budget, ₹34,699 crore was allocated and ₹37,000 crore was utilised."

In the year of the pandemic (2020-21) ₹61,500 crore was allocated and was then increased to ₹1,11,500 crore. However ₹90,000 crore might only be utilised by the end of this year, but a far higher allocation has been made," the FM asserts.

"This year ₹2,09,319 for the revenue component, ₹1,13,734 for capital component and ₹1,33,825 for pensions component for the defence sector. Compare it with 2013-14, the last budget of the UPA government," FM says.

Higher allocation to defence last year because one time payment to clear OROP arrears, the FM confirms and that one time payment component wouldn't be repeated.

"Even WHO has said water and sanitation contribute to health and hence we have it in the budget. In budget speech I said, we are taking a holistic approach to health," says FM.

"It is a comprehensive logical approach. Allocations to core health has not come down but gone up. Budget 2021-22 marks 9.67 per cent growth. We have only increased," the FM says.