Hyderabad: There may have been prime ministers before but it was up to the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “think deeply” and ensure “garib kalyan” and ensure a faster pace of development and service delivery, along with the implementation of welfare measures, Union minister of state Arjun Ram Meghwal said.
Meghwal, the MoS for law and justice, parliamentary affairs and culture, was speaking on Monday in the run-up to the Telangana state BJP’s 30-day Mahajan Sampark Abhiyan, an outreach programme from Tuesday, to “inform and educate them about the various programmes and schemes implemented by the Narendra Modi government over the past nine years.”
The MoS said that when Modi laid out his vision after being elected as the party’s parliamentary leader after the 2014 elections, many questioned if Modi’s first speech in the Central Hall of the Parliament that focused on ‘garib kalyan’, and a greater vision for India, was even possible.
“But in the last nine years,” Meghwal, briefing mediapersons, said that the BJP government led by Modi, followed the themes of “sewa (service), sushasan (good governance), and garib kalyan (welfare of the poor) and the results are there for all to see.”
Meghwal said that for instance, when the then Congress government under Indira Gandhi faced elections with the ‘garibi hatao’ slogan, or Rajiv Gandhi said only ₹15 out of every ₹100 spent actually reach beneficiaries, they, or no one else thought about how to go about these.
“It was Modi who thought deeply about these issues, came up with various pro-poor welfare programmes,” Meghwal said.
“Be it effective implementation of MNREGA, Indira Awas Yojana for housing, drinking water through taps to every home, construction of toilets that provided self-respect for women, and several other schemes, it was Modi’s vision of ensuring proper delivery of service to the intended beneficiary that changed the face of these programmes and lives of the people for the better,” he said.
Meghwal also said that the direct-benefit transfer initiated by the Modi government, for which it opened Jan Dhan bank accounts for the poor, ensured that it eliminated the infamous leakages that Rajiv Gandhi had talked about.
Some states, including Telangana state, do not implement programmes envisioned and launched by Modi, but several are beginning to do so, he said.
He said that in the outreach programme, the Telangana BJP also plans to simultaneously “highlight how the BRS government in Telangana let down the people and how corruption has come to rule the state.”
Several meetings in all Parliament and Assembly constituencies are being planned as part of the event and the party plans to invite Central ministers, along with senior party leaders from the state, to address the gatherings.
The MoS said that the changes brought about by the Prime Minister “do not happen on their own” but only because “Modi paid attention.” It is not just within the country.
“His leadership during the trying Covid times saw India supply vaccines to 50 nations and medicines to 100 countries. Today, India is a global leader, a fact acknowledged by the rest of the world. The recent touching of Modi’s feet by the Papua New Guinea PM is a testament to Modi’s and India’s growing leadership role in the world,” Meghwal said.
