Modi Boosts Credit for Marginalised, Slams Congress

New Delhi: Announcing the nationwide credit support for disadvantaged sections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that people from SCs, STs, and OBCs communities are the biggest beneficiaries of his government's welfare schemes. He slammed the previous Congress dispensations for neglecting the disadvantaged sections. Earlier in the day, Mr Modi laid the foundation stone for three semiconductor facilities -- two in Gujarat and one in Assam -- at Rs 1.25-lakh crores.

Speaking at the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Samajik Utthan even Rozgar Adharit Jankalyan (PM-SURAJ) national portal, the Prime Minister cited the election of Ram Nath Kovind and Droupadi Murumu, who come from Dalit and tribal communities respectively, as the President to assert that the BJP's efforts to ensure that those from deprived sections reach top positions will continue.

In a swipe at the Opposition, Mr Modi asked the gathering, which consisted of people from disadvantaged groups, "How can anyone say I have no family when I have brothers and sisters like you?"

The Prime Minister pointed out that his government's schemes for toilets and cooking gas have benefited deprived sections of society. "SCs, STs, OBCs are the biggest beneficiaries of government welfare schemes for the poor," he said.

The PM-SURAJ national portal aims to provide credit support to eligible individuals across the country, including Scheduled Castes and backward classes and sanitation workers. This initiative is set to facilitate financial empowerment and enable entrepreneurship opportunities for the most disadvantaged sections of society.

At the portal launch event, the Prime Minister said that 1-lakh beneficiaries from deprived sections have been given Rs 720 crore assistance till now.

Talking about the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047, the Prime Minister said that the goal cannot be achieved without the development of the deprived segments. He said he has broken the mindset of the past and it is being ensured that facilities available to others, like gas connections, bank accounts, toilets, etc, are available to Dalits, backward, the deprived, and tribals.

The Prime Minister pointed out that many generations of the deprived segments were wasted in just arranging for the basic amenities. “After 2014, the government reached the segments devoid of any hope and made them partners in the nation’s development,” he said.

Mr Modi said that the biggest beneficiaries of schemes like free rations, free medical treatment, pucca houses, toilets, and Ujjwala gas connections are the people on the periphery, the deprived segments.

“Now we are working with the goal of saturation in these schemes," the Prime Minister added.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister virtually laid the foundation stone for the three major semiconductor manufacturing projects worth about Rs 1.25-lakh crores in Dholera and Sanand in Gujarat and Moregaon in Assam.

Addressing the event after the launch, Mr Modi said, “Today’s projects will play a key role in making India a semiconductor hub.”

Attacking the previous governments, particularly the Congress, Mr Modi pointed out that India’s semiconductor dreams were first envisioned during the 1960s but the then governments failed to act upon them due to a lack of will and the effort to convert the resolutions into accomplishments.

He also lamented the inability of the previous governments to understand the country’s potential, priorities, and futuristic needs. Throwing light on the forward-thinking and futuristic approach of the present government, the Prime Minister mentioned semiconductor manufacturing with ambitions to compete with developed countries.

The Prime Minister stated that the government has taken care of all the priorities of the country as he gave examples of investments in pucca houses for the poor as well as encouraging research, running the world's largest sanitation movement, moving forward in semiconductor manufacturing and rapid reduction in poverty to massive infrastructural investments with the aim of “atma nirbhar Bharat”.

“In 2024 alone, foundation stones have been laid and schemes worth over Rs 12 lakh crores have been inaugurated,” the Prime Minister said.

In his address, Mr. Modi talked about the Bharat Shakti exercise in Pokhran on Tuesday that provided a glimpse of 21st century India's self-reliant defence sector, India joining the exclusive club of the world in the form of Agni 5, the initiation of the drone revolution in agriculture two days ago where thousands of drones were handed over to women under the Namo Drone Didi scheme, India's preparations for Gaganyaan gaining momentum and the recently inaugurated India’s first indigenously built fast breeder nuclear reactor.

“All these efforts and all these projects are taking India closer to the goal of development. Certainly, these three projects of today will also have a big role in this,” Mr Modi added.