'Modi makes it possible' blogs Jaitley outlining major 5 years achievements

New Delhi: Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has demonstrated during the last five years his indefatigability by literally working round the clock, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday hailed the BJP slogan for the forthcoming elections -- 'Modi Hai to Mumkin Hai', meaning Modi makes it possible.

"On policy issues, he sits for hours together with his team, Ministers and officers of various departments of the Government and takes a decision in relation to important matters. He sets targets only to beat them. His image as a doer is now recognised by most Indians. The BJP, therefore, has chosen an effective slogan for the forthcoming elections," wrote Jaitley in his blog.

He also cited some of the major developments of the last five years to endorse his opinion and stated that for the first time in history, for five years in a row, India has been the fastest growing major economy in the world.

Outlining that for the last five years neither direct nor indirect tax rates were increased, he stated that the same was in fact reduced.

"Those with a net income of up to rupees five lakhs have been exempted from income-tax. Before every meeting of the GST Council, the nation speculates as to which taxes are going to be reduced. Small businesses up to a turnover of Rs.40 lakhs are GST exempted. Those with a turnover up to Rs.1.5 crore can pay one per cent GST. Affordable housing is now taxed at one per cent. While reducing the burden of taxes, the tax base has expanded and the collections have grown exponentially," stated Jaitley.

Stating that nobody imagined that India would reduce the rate of taxation and increase the tax collections, he also said that the Constitution amendment, the taxation laws subordinate to it, the regulations and the tariffs have all been decided unanimously by Parliament and the GST Council respectively.

He also drew a comparison between highway construction figures and claimed that the figure has risen from seven kilometres per day in 2014 to 30 Kilometers per day now.

"Ninety-one per cent of all villages are connected with rural roads. The expenditure on rural roads has been increased three times," he said.

He also highlighted the achievements of the Central government's scheme including Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Ujjwala Yojana, Ujala, Ayushman Bharat Scheme among others.

"As of 15.27 lakh patients have been treated on a cashless basis till March 13. Today 99 per cent rural homes are connected with sanitation. Eight crore households of the poorest BPL households are being provided with cooking gas stoves and cylinders. About thirty-five crore bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana have been opened connecting every household to the banking system," he wrote.

Jaitley also stated that more than 16 crore loans under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana have been given to encourage self-employment and job creation.

"54% of the beneficiaries are SC/ST/OBC/ Minorities. 72% of the beneficiaries are women," he outlined.

Jaitley also wrote about increasing the number of airports to 101 and increasing MSP of cost plus 50 per cent for 22 crops along with annual income support of Rs 6000.

Jaitley also claimed that every BPL family in rural India will have a house by 2022 and 55 lakh houses are built every year.

Jaitley also wrote about the recently conducted air strike and said that India has demonstrated that merely dealing with terrorism within the country will not suffice.

"It is willing to adopt unconventional methods of attacking terror at the point of its origin", he wrote.