PM Modi's Rajya Sabha speech today, Main points

PM Modi's Rajya Sabha speech today, Main points: 

* Former bureaucrat Madhav Godbole wrote in a book that in 1971 Indira Gandhi ji was advised by then FM to demonetise, but she rejected the idea.

* If Maoists surrender, everyone in this house will be pleased. In 40 days after demonetisation, almost 700 Maoists surrendered during the November-December period. This happened for the first time.

* Honest people will not be empowered unless dishonest people are punished.

* Indira Gandhi rejected Wanchoo committee's recommendation on demonetisation, probably with the elections in mind.

* Corruption has adversely impacted the aspirations of the poor and the middle class.

* Demonetisation has made banks flush with cash, leading to a reduction in interest rates.

* You quote foreign economists. I can quote 10 of them on the fact that such an action has not been implemented the world ever.

* For the first time, a horizontal divide was visible. The mood of the people was completely different from the mood of politicians.

* There is no parallel in the world to our bold step of banning bigger-denomination notes.

* India is working to correct the wrongs that plague our society.

* Manmohan Singh is a respectable figure. He has played a decisive role in our economy. But why was he silent on the scams during UPA's tenure?

* Manmohan Singh is the only person in India who has been connected with the economic decision-making for 35 years. So many scams took place during all this time, but he got no stain on him. "Only Manmohan Singh knows how to take bath wearing a raincoat."

* No violence occurred during demonetisation, which shows people's support to the movement.

* We want to make people enable digitally wherever possible.

* No one would have thought that largest democracy of the world will vote by pressing a button instead of ballots.

* The whole world is going paperless. Why should India lag behind?

* We have tried to fulfill aspirations of the society. DBT has stopped leakage in various welfare schemes.

* BHIM app is a very good arrangement. We need to promote it.

* People are now booking rail tickets, paying electricity bills online. Around 20% traffic now pays tolls using RFID. Around 29-30% people buy petrol/diesel using cards.

* We have formed 6 Debt Recovery Tribunals; we have instituted Banks Board Bureau for appointments in banks.

* There is no reason to demean RBI by dragging it into controversies.

* This government has worked a lot on the issue of governance. We will soon facilitate Post offices with Passport-issuing mechanism. More than 1 crore 65 lakh households have been provided with LPG.

* Universalisation of women helpline has been done.

* We have implemented a new fertiliser policy.

* We want big marketplaces in tribal belts. The government is working on it.

* Cleanliness is the responsibility of all. Sanitation coverage has increased to 60 per cent in rural areas from 40 per cent earlier. We should promote competition among states, municipalities on cleanliness.

* We have launched One India, Great India to increase communication among all states.

Modi also cited D Subbarao's book to attack P. Chidambaram while countering Congress' claim of government interference in RBI's functioning.