Madhya Pradesh Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Prahlad Patel has courted controversy by commenting that people have fallen into the habit of begging from the government, and that the society is being weakened by assembling an army of beggars.
Patel made the comment publicly on Saturday while addressing a large gathering of people, after unveiling the statue of Rani Avanti Bai Lodhi in the Suthaliya town of Rajgarh district of the state.
The opposition Congress vehemently opposed Patel’s comment, terming it an insult to the poor and the needy.
Congress leader K K Mishra charged on Sunday that it is sad that the people, whom the minister has called beggars, are forced to spread their hands in front of a government that is itself surviving on a ventilator by taking loans of Rs 5000 crore per month.
The Madhya Pradesh BJP government led by CM Dr Mohan Yadav has been regularly taking loans worth thousands of crores from the open market in a gap of every few months.
State Assembly Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar also pointed out that all those who are poor or needy, and look up to the government to help them, should not be labeled as beggars. He said all those facing problems of any kind naturally hope to get some help whenever they meet a government representative. Singhar demanded that the BJP issue a clarification on Prahlad Patel’s remarks.
Patel’s statement has also come at a time when the political parties are rolling out freebies to win elections in India.
Madhya Pradesh is, in fact, the state that has provided the electoral game-changing ‘Laadli Behna Yojana’ to the BJP, which is being used in different names in many other states too.
The BJP government of MP is paying Rs 1250 per month to about 1.27 crore women under the scheme.
During the programme on Saturday, Prahlad Patel had said, “People have become accustomed to begging from the government.”
“Whenever leaders come in the midst of people, they are handed a pile of demand letters. First, politicians are garlanded, and then they are handed over a demand letter. This is not a good habit,” remarked Patel, who is a former union minister too.
“Instead of always taking, develop a mindset of giving. I can confidently say that if you do this, you will be happier and help build a cultured society,” he advised.
“Assembling an army of beggars does not strengthen society, it weakens it. The more we are drawn to free things, the less we honour our brave warriors,” he said.
“Those who sacrificed their lives for the country—why did they do so?” Patel questioned.
“The true tribute to a martyr is to abide by their principles. I can say with certainty that no martyr has ever begged for anything from anyone,” Prahlad Patel asserted.
Avanti Bai was a queen-ruler and freedom fighter. She was the queen of Ramgarh (now Dindori) in Madhya Pradesh. She sacrificed her life facing certain defeat at the hands of the British Army, piercing herself with her sword on March 20, 1858.