Central grants to state under NDA government Rs 2 lakh crore, says PM Modi

DAVANGERE: Addressing a farmers’ rally in Davangere on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while referring to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s outbursts on financial support to the sate, said, ‘The then Congress government gave only Rs 73,000 crore under the Finance Commission grants.

This was increased to Rs 2 lakh crore under the present NDA government at the Centre, but the state government has failed to utilise it fully. The Centre has released funds under Rastriya Swasthya Mission, Smart Cities project and for health and education sectors, but they have not been utilised properly, he said.

Citing the Gujarat model of development, Modi said the waters of Tapi and Narmada rivers were used for greening the state. “When we could do it, what is the problem with Karnataka?” he questioned, while calling the Siddaramaiah government a ‘nakaam sarkar’.

Stating that the people of Karnataka are progressive, he said they are bogged down by Siddaramaiah’s unsupportive nature. The Centre has sanctioned Rs 24,400 crore for infrastructure projects in Karnataka including six-laning of Davangere-Haveri and Davangere-Chitradurga stretch of the Pune-Bangalore National Highway. He said various railway works are under way and several projects of national importance were sanctioned for the state.

Pro-farmer government

Claiming that his government at the Centre is pro-farmer, Modi said that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana protects farmers from accruing losses during famine and floods. During the last financial year, a compensation of Rs 11,000 crore was disbursed to farmers of Karnataka alone, he added. “Soil plays a key role in improving the income of a farmer. Hence the soil health cards were issued to farmers. This helps in providing accurate details of the soil and the way to improve the productivity of the farmers. Through this method, farmers’ income will be doubled by 2022,” he says.

Congress ruined Country

Modi said the work on increasing MSP which the Gandhis couldn’t do in the last 60 years was done by a chaiwala in just 48 months. He also said the Congress has ruined the country with its anti-farmer policy and gave an example of how Davangere’s cotton industry lost its sheen the name Manchester of India.

Raitha Abhiyan inaugurated

The PM also inaugurated Raitha Bhandu Abhiyan, under which a fist full of rice will be collected by BJP workers from each farmer all over the state from March 1 to 15 and then a mega rally will be
organised at the end of the campaign.