Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the charge that his government opposed federalism was baseless, and asserted that it had pursued competitive and cooperative federalism and worked for achieving national progress along with meeting regional aspirations.
Modi was replying to a discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address to Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. In a rare Parliamentary event, the prime minister was forced to give his entire speech amid non-stop slogan-shouting by the Opposition seeking a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe in the Adani Group affair.
Over two dozen Opposition MPs led by the Congress party moved into the well of the House and began shouting slogans when Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar called the prime minister to speak, rejecting the Congress demand that Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge be allowed to raise a matter. The slogan-shouting continued all through Modi’s 90-minute speech.
The prime minister said his government worked for national and regional goals of development in a combined manner so that the dream of “Viksit Bharat” (developed India) be realised by 2047.
He said those making the charge of being anti-federal against him should go through the record of the Congress Governments at the Centre which had used Article 356 ninety times to dismiss elected State Governments, and the then prime minister Indira Gandhi had done it 50 times. The first Communist Government in Kerala was dismissed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Governments of DMK stalwarts M G Ramachandran and Karunanidhi were dismissed later. Referring to NCP leader Sharad Pawar, who was sitting in the House, the prime minister said even his Government was dismissed when he was a youthful promising chief minister. The NTR government was dismissed when he was abroad for health reasons. Raj Bhawans, official houses of State Governors, had turned Congress Bhawans, Mr Modi said. In 1982, then Lok Dal stalwart Devi Lal-BJP pre-poll alliance was in majority but the Congress was called to form Government.
The prime minister said his counsel to states would be to take economic issues seriously because these were difficult times and one could see things in India’s neighbourhood. The states must maintain economic discipline so that the Centre can help them accordingly. India cannot reverse the pace of its development now and must be a developed nation by 2047.
Modi said the Opposition was adopting ways just to cover up its failures. “One person is proving too much for them (the Opposition),” he said, and added “I am dedicated to serve the nation.” The prime minister said a rose blossomed in mud, and the more mud the Opposition hurled at him, the more he would be energised.
Dwelling on his government’s development strategies, the prime minister said his government believed in development up to a saturation point, focusing on Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas, development without discrimination or appeasement. “This is true secularism,” he said, “and 100 per cent development.”
This is a new model of development, and the country is supporting the Government, he said. The Congress has been rejected by people repeatedly. Adivasis had made contributions in the freedom struggle but the Congress in power never gave them their due. Mr Modi said the Vajpayee Government had set up a separate Ministry for Adivasis.
The Scheduled Caste Component Plan was Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 25,000 crore annually till 2014, but it rose to Rs 1.20 lakh crore now. The Opposition talked of the Forest Rights Act but under it only 14 lakh pattas (ownership papers) were issued since Independence but in the last 7-8 years, seven lakh new pattas have been issued.
“Their politics was based on vote-banks and small communities were left out,” he said. The prime minister said his government had provided financial loans to small vendors and communities like Banjaras. His government gave Samman Nidhi to small farmers. To empower women, 11 crore toilets were constructed and they were given various benefits. The birth of a daughter is today celebrated. Seventy per cent of the Mudra scheme beneficiaries are women, he said.
Women were welcomed into the Army and a sainik school was opened for girls. Women have been getting drinking water in their taps in homes and cooking gas connections to save them from smoke. Today a woman is the President of India and a woman as Finance Minister has presented the Union Budget. The prime minister said his government did not believe in tokenism.
The prime minister gave details of India’s economic achievements under his government like mobile manufacture, digital systems, operation of drones for agriculture, one crore employees were added to the organised sector as per EPFO payroll data. India has become a land of start-ups, Aadhaar helped in vaccine certificates. India has opened its defence sector to the private sector and there are 350 companies now, and Indian defence exports have crossed Rs 1 lakh crore.
The Congress governments had named 600 schemes after Gandhi-Nehru names. This country is not anybody’s personal jagir, he said. His government had named several Andamans islands after Nejaji Bose and awardees of Param Vir Chakras. The Congress claimed that it had laid foundations for all schemes but its achievements nowhere matched the requirements. When a handpump was dug, there was celebration for a week. Today, 11 crore taps are providing water to the poor in villages. Forty-eight crore Jan Dhan bank accounts were opened for the poor when bank nationalisation meant nothing for them.
The big infrastructure projects were being monitored by PM Gati Shakti to avoid delays which were normal under Congress rule, Modi said. “We will not let down the aspirations of the people,” the prime minister said mentioning the progress of several pro-poor schemes.