Prime Minister today thanked the Members of Parliament for letting the House function smoothly. He was responding to the motion of thanks to the President in the Rajya Sabha.

“It is commendable how the House has taken President Mukherjee's advice seriously and ensured that the House is not stalled,” he said during his speech.

The Prime Minister also appealed to the Upper House for passage of Bills so that and give the necessary impetus for the nation’s projects.

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He also took a ‘humourous’ dig at how fortunate the Congress was when it came to media coverage. “When we criticise the Congress, it is reported as criticism on opposition, not criticism on Congress. The Congress never gets a bad name,” he said.

Business Standard lists a few highlights from the Prime Minister’s speech in the Rajya Sabha.

Functioning of Parliament

We all saw that the Lok Sabha functioned till 12 am last night. Two days ago, Rajya Sabha too was functioning till late

All members were happy, satisfied as after a long time as they were able to present their views and suggestions in the Parliament

Policy Initiatives

We need to shift from incremental improvements to a quantum jump and that is what we are trying

We need to worry about lack of education facilities and overcome the challenges in this sphere

Rajya Sabha

This is a chamber of ideas and it must guide the nation. Coordination between both Houses is essential

Let us pass those bills passed in the Lok Sabha as soon as possible and give impetus to India's progress

On Congress

When we criticise the Congress, it is reported as criticism on opposition, not criticism on Congress. The Congress (party) never gets a bad name There are two kinds of people — those who work and those who take credit. We should try to be the first kind.

This has less competition. This was said by Indira Gandhi

Jan Dhan Yojana

I am grateful to Ghulam Nabi Azad, he brought a record of people who did not have accounts under Jan Dhan Yojna. He worked as if with a microscope

Had you (Congress) worked towards it during your rule, we would not have had to work so much towards it

Good Governance

We are focussing on accountability. I am reviewing infrastructure projects and I am seeing projects are stalled for decades

We have done good governance. Forbes has praised the methods India has adopted for minerals’ auctions

Effective or last mile delivery is what we are working on

Agriculture Push

We are emphasising on doubling agriculture income, value addition, and more productivity in agriculture.

We should aim to double the income of farmers by 2022 Clean India

Our Parliament has never discussed cleanliness after independence. Nowadays, there is a debate on it for 2-3 hours. The government may be getting criticised, but the issue is at least being discussed

Cleanliness is on track to becoming a people’s movement now

Cleanliness helps the poor the most. Due to lack of cleanliness the poor are forced to spend more money on medicines