Stoutly refuting the allegations made by the BJP and its chief ministers for ?communal budgeting? during the National Development Council (NDC) meeting here on Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said there was no attempt to divide people on either caste or religion and the focus of the 11th Plan remained on the most marginalised sections of the society.
??The goal of this Plan is to invest in our people to enable them to become active participants in economic growth processes. The Plan does not attempt to divide people on the basis of caste, creed or gender or religion,?? he said just before the approval of the plan document.
Earlier taking the lead in alleging that the Centre had resorted to ?communal budgeting? Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, said the way the government had approached to poverty alleviation programmes by earmarking special plan components for minority (Muslims), ??danger of dividing the country looms large.?? He also demanded that there is a need for review of the Prime Minister’s 15-point agenda for minorities.
Interestingly, BJP president Rajnath Singh had set the tone for his party chief ministers on Tuesday, when he appealed to all of them to raise the issue vigorously when they attend the NDC meeting here.
??Instead of inclusive growth, the plan document talks about exclusive growth based on religion. This the UPA has resorted keeping in mind their vote bank and it seems they are putting in all their efforts to ensure vote bank development rather development only,?? Modi sarcastically said.
Toeing Modi line Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said, the poor have no caste or religion hence only the economic criteria should be the basis for allocating funds for welfare schemes.
??This is an example of vote bank politics and it is being done only to appease Muslims, Chauhan told reporters. We strongly oppose the 15-point programme proposal and we will take up the matter with the Prime Minister when we meet him,?? Chauhan said.
Expressing similar views, Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh said the focus of the XI Plan document should be on poverty on specific communities.
??Poverty is the biggest problem in the country and we should address it effectively and the focus should not be on communal lines,?? he said.