Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government started the new tradition of ‘direct benefit and direct feedback and the true benefit of democracy has reached the right people in real terms after so many years of independence, otherwise interest of only select few were served in the past.
While addressing a public meeting in Wajidpur after launching projects worth Rs 12,110 crore in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, the PM said, “The biggest complaint of the people with the previous governments was that they used to formulate schemes while sitting in air conditioned rooms. The governments didn’t know about the impact of the schemes on the ground.”
He said that the BJP government talked, interacted and met the beneficiaries and started a new tradition. “That means direct benefit and direct feedback. The benefit of this was that every government department and every officer started executing his responsibility,” he said.
Modi said that the political parties which ran corrupt and failed governments in the past get flustered after hearing the name of the beneficiary today. “After so many years of independence the true benefit of democracy has reached the right beneficiary in real terms. Otherwise earlier interests of a select few were served in the name of democracy and the poor were not being heard,” he said.
He said that in the BJP government beneficiary class has become the example of true social justice and true secularism. “We are making all efforts to identify the last beneficiary of every scheme, reach him and provide him the benefit of the scheme. The biggest benefit of the government reaching the beneficiaries is that shops of those taking commission, brokerage and indulging in corruption have closed down. That means no discrimination and no corruption,” he said.
The PM said that in the last nine years schemes only for one family or one generation were not formulated, instead work has been done keeping in mind that the future of the coming generations should also improve.
He said, “For example there is a scheme of houses for the poor. So far more than 4 crore families have got ‘pucca houses’ of PM Awas scheme. In UP houses have been handed over to 4.5 poor families. A major concern of the poor who get these houses goes away and a sense of security is created in them. When a child grows in such a house then his aspirations are also different.”
Modi said that majority of the houses under PM Awas scheme were being given in the names of women. “There are crore of sisters in whose name a property has been registered for the first time. Only the sisters of poor families know about the guarantee of financial security which they have received,” he said.
He said that Ayushman Bharat scheme is not only limited to free treatment of upto Rs 5 lakh, but makes an impact on several generations.
“When a person in a poor family gets terminally ill then it affects the entire family as their financial condition gets into despair. There are only two options before a poor person either to sell his property or takes out a loan. The Ayushman Bharat scheme is protecting the poor from this crisis. Therefore I am making so much effort to provide benefits of Ayushman cards to the poor in a mission mode,” he said.
The PM said that the process of distributing Ayushman cards to 1.07 crore has started. “Deprived and poor have the biggest right on the resources of the country. “Earlier, only rich people had access to the banks and for the poor it was believed that what will they do with a bank account when they don’t have money. The BJP government has changed this perception in the last nine years. We opened that doors of the banks for everyone and opened around 50 Jan Dhan bank accounts,” he said.
He said that under Mudra scheme loans from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh were given without any guarantee. “In UP crore of beneficiaries started their work by taking advantage of Mudra scheme. Members of poor, Dalit, backward, tribal and minority families have benefited the most. This is social justice whose guarantee the BJP government is providing,” he said.
Without calling names, the PM attacked Congress and said the people who ruled the country for decades had dishonesty at the root of their rule.
He said, “When this happens no matter how much money is accumulated, it falls short. Prior 2014 during the regime of dynastic politicians and corrupts the business continued like that. Whenever it came to the budget there was an excuse of loss and deficit. Today whether it’s poor welfare or infrastructure there is no dearth of budget.”
Modi said, “The taxpayers and the system are the same, only the government has changed, the intention has changed therefore the results have changed. Earlier the newspapers were full of news of corruption and black marketeering, but today news of foundation laying and inaugurating of new projects are making the headlines.”
He said, “Indian Railways is the biggest example of change in the last nine years. Eastern dedicated freight corridor, though launched in 2006 not a single kilometer line was laid till 2014. A major part of the project has been completed in the last nine years and goods trains have started operating.”
