Kushinagar (UP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked previous governments at the Centre, saying that if agricultural reforms had been implemented earlier, the farmers and poor of the country would not have had to suffer for so long.
Speaking at a rally in Kushinagar of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the PM said that his government is dedicated to the poor, the farmers, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
“When my Govt took charge, cane farmers were owed Rs 12,000 crore. We made efforts to ensure they got paid in time. Dues were cleared to an extent,” Modi said.
Strong farmers and villages add strength to India. We did not let sugarcane farmers suffer. We waived loans of Rs 20,000 crore owed by them,” Modi said.
The PM said that farmers earlier had to stand in queues even in biting cold to procure urea, but the Central government had brought an end to this.
“Now, urea reaches the farmer’s field. Thefts have stopped because neem coating has been put over the urea,” he said.
Taking a shot at the UP government, Modi said that if they care about the farmers, they should implement the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana.
But in a cynical vein, the Prime Minister asserted that the Samajwadi Party government would not work for the farmers because it was not in their political interest.
Pitching for a cashless economy, the Prime Minister stated that people can use mobile banking with the ease that they send messages on Whatsapp.
On demonetization, Modi said he had requested the people of the country to suffer inconvenience for just 50 days. “Wealthy people will have to bear more inconvenience, the poor less,” Modi said.
Slamming the Opposition for calling a Bharat Bandh on Monday, Modi said that while the government wanted to stop corruption, the Opposition wanted to stop the country from functioning.
“Your money is always yours. You can spend it even without cash transactions. It is the black money hoarders who need cash and who are most affected by demonetization,” Modi claimed.
While the whole world was moving towards a cashless future, India had been left behind so far, the PM claimed.
