SURAT: Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused previous governments on Friday of neglecting the plight of the poor and using the “Garibi Hatao” slogan merely as a vote-grabbing gimmick without bringing any real change.
On a two-day visit to Gujarat, Modi addressed a gathering in Surat’s Limbayat area after participating in the Food Security Saturation Campaign. He began his tour by inaugurating and performing a ground-breaking ceremony for development and infrastructure projects worth Rs 2,587 crore in Silvassa town of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, including a 450-bed NAMO Hospital.
He took a swipe at the opposition, saying those who failed to win even a single seat in recent elections “wouldn’t even know how many zeroes were are in Rs 32 lakh crore (amount disbursed as loans under PM Mudra Yojana over the past decade).”
Modi said the BJP-led NDA govt has lifted over 25 crore people out of poverty through various welfare schemes launched in the last 10 years. “Jise kisi ne nahin puchha, use Modi ne puja hai (Those ignored by all, Modi has honoured them),” he said, drawing applause.
In a veiled dig at previous Congress govts, Modi said, “For decades, people were fed up with hollow slogans of ‘Garibi Hatao’. These slogans were revived whenever elections were near, but poverty only deepened.”
Speaking on food security reforms, Modi said that 10 years ago, nearly five crore bogus ration cards were in circulation, allowing a nexus of looters to siphon off food meant for the poor. “We cleaned up this mess, deleted those fake beneficiaries, and linked the entire system with Aadhaar cards to ensure that every grain reaches the rightful beneficiary,” he said.