Corrupt people troubled by me,' says PM Modi hits out at 'chowkidar' barb

Kurukshetra: In an apparent counter attack on Rahul Gandhi for his 'chowkidar chor hai' barb, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said while honest people reposed faith in the chowkidar, it is the corrupt who are feeling troubled because of him.

 “Middlemen and those who loot the rights of poor have been eradicated from the system. Today all honest people have faith in 'chowkidaar', 'lekin jo bhrasht hain unko Modi se kasht hai' (Those who are corrupt have a problem with Modi)", PM Modi said while addressing a 'Swacch Bharat' event here.

"Those who are part of the 'mahamilavat' are in a competition among themselves to threaten the courts, the CBI and abuse Modi,” the prime minister said alluding to the grand alliance formed by the opposition parties.

Hailing Haryana as the place from where he made several key promises and completed them, he said, “I am grateful to the land of Haryana. Whatever targets we have set from here have been achieved. After being declared the PM candidate I had started my campaign from Haryana. One rank, one pension was promised from here and we have fulfilled it.

"Beti Bachao- Beti Padhao, the scheme of education for daughters was also launched from here and it later spread across the country as a mass movement. The first beneficiary of Ayushman Bharat was also one of Haryana’s daughters,” the prime minister said.

Outlining the Centre's various flagship schemes for women, Modi said , “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao has improved the population of girls, our sisters have been freed from smoke( smoke from wood fired stoves) with the Ujjwala scheme. The National Nutrition Campaign and the Prime Minister's Safe Maternity Campaign have reduced the risk for expecting mothers.”

He further highlighted steps taken by his government for women's empowerment and said, “Our government has also made provision for capital punishment for those accused of raping girls. It is also our decision to allot all houses in the name of women in the Prime Minister’s Housing Scheme. Maternity Leave has been increased to 26 weeks so that women get adequate time to care for their newborns.

"Women entrepreneurs have received about 75 per cent of the 15 crore loan under the Mudra scheme. Under 'Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana', about 60 million women were associated with self-help groups and more than Rs 75 thousand crores loan has been provided to Self Help Groups,” Modi said.

Sharing details of the Centre's 'Swacch Bharat' mission, the Prime Minister also criticised his opponents for allegedly making fun of him during the conceptual stage of this program.

“People who were in power previously made fun of the Swachh Bharat programme. However, I am never hurt by taunts of those born with silver spoon,” he said.

The Prime Minister also stated that the central government is spreading the network of large hospitals in the country and as many as 21 All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences are either working or there construction is in progress.

“Out of these 14 works on AIIMS started after 2014”, said  the prime minister.

The Prime Minister in his speech also welcomed members of a team from Nigeria who were present in the audience,  and who were in the country to learn about the Swachh Bharat mission and replicate it in the African country.

The Prime Minister also distributed the Swachh Shakti-2019 awards and inaugurated and laid the foundation of many development projects including Jhajjar's National Cancer Institute, Ayush University, Kurukshetra, Health Science University, Karnal, Panchkula National Institute of Ayurveda, and ESIC Medical College and Hospital in Faridabad.