New Delhi : Pointing out that India’s rise is “unstoppable” and that it is among the most “favourite destinations of opportunities and investment”, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday said we must not let anyone “taint, tarnish and diminish” the achievements of those who toil for the country.
Dhankhar said India is expected to be the third largest economy in the world by the turn of the decade, but that some people have projected a different picture of the country. He was speaking at the 61st convocation of the Indian Agriculture Research Institute in Delhi.
“Some worked with RBI and had been the chief economic adviser. They had come from abroad… they came and occupied a post and when the term was about to expire, they hoped for a renewal and when that did not happen, they returned abroad and said there could be a food crisis in India,” the Vice President said, in an obvious reference to Raghuram Rajan, the former RBI governor, although he did not take any names.
Since being named Vice President, Dhankhar has been vocal in emphasizing the primacy of the legislature over the judiciary — various government functionaries including the law minister have been critical of the collegium system of appointments to the higher judiciary .
Freedom of expression is “valuable, inalienable” and no country in the world has respected this more than India, but there is a need to disallow “free fall of doctored narratives to run down our growth story”, Vice-President Jadgeep Dhankhar said last week, soon after the Income Tax department carried out surveys in BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai and a BJP spokesperson targeted the media company for its “venomous” and biased coverage of India.
The VP said as Governor of West Bengal he witnessed how during the Covid-19 pandemic free food grains were provided to 80 crore people.
On Friday, Dhankhar said agriculture is the spine of our economy. “Agriculture and agro-based industries are the driving force of our economy and because of them India is a rising star in the global economy. India attained the status of 5th largest economy overcoming erstwhile rulers U.K. in the first week of September, 2022. Indeed, it is a milestone achievement and farm and agro sector had significant contribution in India’s global rise,” he said.
Dhankhar who is also the chairman of the Rajya Sabha also referred to the issue of parliamentary privileges of lawmakers and said that while the law allows them to speak freely, they must realise privileges are not “unqualified”.
Last week, the Chairman asked a parliamentary privileges committee to investigate alleged breach of privilege by 12 opposition MPs.
Referring to the privileges of parliamentarians he said, they are free to express their views on the floor of the House and it cannot be challenged in a court of law.
“…This privilege comes with very heavy responsibility and that responsibility is that every word spoken in Parliament must be after due thought, after due consideration. It can’t be based on unverified situations. Parliament cannot be turned into a wrestling ring where there is free fall of information,” he said.
Urging people to reflect on disruptions in Parliament he said it is the job of intelligentsia and every person particularly young minds to take note of it and “neutralise it.”