Friday, Mar 29, 2024 | Last Update : 11:52 AM IST

  India   Want farmers to earn double by 2022, says Modi at anniversary rally

Want farmers to earn double by 2022, says Modi at anniversary rally

AGE CORRESPONDENT WITH AGENCY INPUTS
Published : May 26, 2016, 6:51 pm IST
Updated : May 26, 2016, 6:51 pm IST

No corruption allegations, transparency is BJP’s hallmark, says Rajnath Singh on 2 years of Modi government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Saharanpur. (Photo: ANI Twitter)
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Saharanpur. (Photo: ANI Twitter)

No corruption allegations, transparency is BJP’s hallmark, says Rajnath Singh on 2 years of Modi government.

As the NDA Government at the Centre completes two years in office on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a mega rally in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur to mark the second anniversary of the government.

Here are the Highlights:

Narendra Modi

This government's intentions are clear, its programmes are clear. To work for the downtrodden and the poor. I urge you to be part of this journey. What the government will do for you is your right. But what you do for the country is your responsibility. On economy, Modi says development is the only solution to our problems. The entire world says if there is a bright spot in the economy, it is India. Two years ago they used to say India has sunk, there was an environment of disappointment, problems. Today there is hope and a thrust to move ahead. Today I want to announce that the retirement age for government doctors - which is currently 60 or 62 in different parts- will be made 65 all over the country. We have a shortage of doctors in our country. There are different rules for government doctors in states. If there were enough medical colleges in our country, we wouldn't have this shortage. It is difficult to create doctors in 2 years. I appeal to doctors that on 9th of every month, they should treat poor pregnant women for free, give them medicines for free. If they give 12 days out of 12 months to them, this will help poor mothers a lot.

On Swachh Bharat Mission, Modi says I am grateful to the people, media, social organisations and especially the youth. That they have made the mission of cleanliness their own. This mission is not for the rich, it is for the poor, because if they fall sick, they stop earning. And they spend 7000 per year on a sick person. If there is cleanliness, this can be prevented. Banks had complicated rules. Should banks not be of use to the poor Around 3.25 crore families have been given Rs 1.25 lakh crore without guarantee. How the poor can be empowered, we have shown that. My work is scrutinised minutely and I welcome this step. A government should be held accountable every day, for every penny.

When someone says in 21st century, close to 70 years after independence, 18,000 villages don't have electricity poles. How sad is that It pains me a lot. I have given my government a time for 1,000 days to bring electricity to these villages.

We have a fashion in our country to link programmes to caste, communities and vote bank. For me 1.25 billion people in this country are my family. There is no caste, no community. When I speak of beti bachao, beti padhao, I speak for girls from all castes and communities.

On women empowerment, Modi says till women are empowered, Mother India won't be empowered. There has not been a bigger move to empower women since independence. Today women are fewer compared to men, because there is female infanticide. So we have run a program ‘beti bachao, beti padhao’.

Gas cylinder was made a thing for the rich by the past governments. Poor weren't allowed to dream of gas ovens. Poor mothers were made to take smokes of 400 cigarettes when the cooked on wood and coal.

Two years ago, there were frequent reports and discussions of scams. So much wealth has been looted. I am shocked, were those powerful people sent to loot the wealth of public I have taken measures to stop this loot. 2 years ago no one would have dared to stand amid the people and give their account to the people.

We have brought the PM Crop Insurance scheme. This scheme will give great benefits to the scheme when there crop is destroyed or wasted.

During calamity, the compensation to farmers, has been overhauled. Earlier if half the crop was destroyed only then they would have been compensated. That has been brought to one-third now.

Have spoken with Chief Ministers and identified areas with water scarcity and trying to make sure water reaches all corners. But I urge you to save the most water we can during this year's monsoons.

Our lands have been destroyed, so we have given farmers soil health cards. So that farmers know what to do ahead. We have a big dream for irrigation.

If our farmers are given water, they can grow gold from soil.

Want to make sure that poor and farmers earn double by 2022, when India celebrated 75 years of Independence.

All these years what you have done to the farmers, you wont be allowed to do anymore. Government has made rules that sugarcane farmers won’t have any dues left.

The country is changing. But some people's minds aren't changing.

There was a time when I took the responsibility, that time sugarcane farmers owed Rs 14,000 crore. Sugar mills, state governments - none were bothered. They gave piecemeal solutions but no permanent solutions. We tried to make sure sugarcane farmers got their dues on time.

We have made a programme to give Rs 2 lakh crore to the gram panchayats, so that lives in villages are transformed. Schools, hospitals, electricity - we have stressed on these. Only those programmes that transform the lives of the poor.

Over the last two years people have seen our work. When NDA leaders chose me as their leader in Parliament and I gave my address, I had said my government is dedicated to the poor of the country. We have taken up those works which will give poor the power to fight and defeat poverty. I had said from the Red Fort, I may be called Pradhan Mantri but I am Pradhan Sevak. And I have relentlessly tried to serve the 1.25 billion people of India.

Governments come and go, elections come and go, but governments are there to fulfil the dreams of the people.

Two years ago, this time in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan we were wearing our oath. And I have chosen this moment to come and give account of our work.

I am Uttar Pradesh vala. Firstly, I want to apologise to you that the place has fallen short. Many people are left out in the sun, says Modi.

Narendra Modi begins the speech with 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' chants.

Rajnath Singh

Modi has always thought of the farmers. The crop insurance scheme we have introduced is unprecedented.

Transparency in governance has been our high point.

We don't want to do politics by shying away from the public glare, we want to be able to look our people in the eyes.

We will keep presenting records of our performance in front of the public.

There has not been the smallest accusation of corruption against this government. India's stature has gone up all over the world.

There is no dearth of natural resources in India, but it has been looted for too long. This government has stopped it.

The Congress is being side-lined. It's been driven out of the plains, and only resides in the mountain. I'm sure they will be driven out from there as well, says Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Modi will follow this up with four more rallies in Balasore in Odisha; and one each in Rajasthan, Karnataka and Meghalaya later on.

Besides, senior union ministers including Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Suresh Prabhu, Najma Heptulla and JP Nadda and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries will also be visiting different districts in Uttar Pradesh to ensure the reach of the government's programmes at the ground level in the state which will go to polls next year.

On the eve of the government's second anniversary, the Prime Minister had chaired a meeting of Union Council of Ministers on Wednesday asking the ministerial colleagues to focus on carrying the initiatives taken by the dispensation to the grass roots. He also briefly spoke about the various programmes being lined up to mark the government's second year.

Meanwhile, top BJP leaders led by the party chief Amit Shah have highlighted the achievements of the government claiming they included empowerment of the poor, infrastructure growth and youth-led development.

Top echelons of the government including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar besides Shah, were present as Union Minister Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman made a presentation to highlight its performance at an interaction with senior editors from various media houses in the national capital on May 25.

The presentation also claimed that the common man has benefited due to low inflation and stable price regime and India has emerged as a bright spot in the world with high growth rate of 7.6 per cent.

(This story originally appeared in the deccan Chronicle as may the case be)

Location: India, Uttar Pradesh, Saharanpur