Sounding the BJP’s poll bugle in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched an all-out attack on the erstwhile UPA government, charging that botched-up schemes for the poor, nepotism and vote bank politics roadblocked development of the country.
Addressing a rally in Shimla to mark eight years of his government, the prime minister said that earlier “there were only talks of ‘atki, bhatki, latki’ schemes, nepotism and scams” whereas today, everyone talks about the beneficiary schemes launched by the government.
The prime minister said that the erstwhile (UPA) government had considered corruption as an essential part of the system. “Back then, instead of fighting corruption, the government had succumbed to it, then the country was watching that the money of the schemes is looted before reaching the needy,” he said.
PM Modi said that after coming to power, his government pruned nine crore fake names from the list of beneficiaries of various schemes. “Be it Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or scholarship or any other scheme, we have eradicated the scope of corruption through direct transfer of benefits.”
“We have transferred over Rs 22 lakh crore to the bank accounts of beneficiaries of various schemes through direct benefit transfer,” the prime minister said. He further said, “Now our borders are more secure than they were before 2014.”
About his government’s measures to combat the Covid pandemic, PM Modi said, nearly 200 crore Covid vaccine doses have been administered in India so far.
India exported the Covid vaccine to various countries and Himachal Pradesh’s Baddi industrial unit played a vital role in manufacturing those jabs, he told the rally.
“Now India extends hands of friendship not under compulsion but to help others as was done by providing Covid vaccines to several countries, the prime minister added.
