Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Opposition Congress, without naming the party, on Saturday of misleading and cheating farmers of the country in the name of loan waiver.
He was laying the foundation stone for the remaining part of the North Koel Reservoir, also known as Mandal Dam project in Palamu district of Jharkhand. On completion, Mandal Dam will provide irrigation water to 19, 604 hectares in Jharkhand and neighbouring Bihar.
“Earlier, they forced farmers to take loans and now they are using the issue to play politics… had they completed this North Koel Reservoir project on time, farmers of this area would not have had to borrow and plunge themselves into poverty…for us farmers are annadata (food provider) but for them (previous governments) they were a mere vote bank,” he said after laying the foundation stone. “My government works for the benefit of the farmers, to strengthen their hands by completing such irrigation projects... most of which are in the last stage of completion”.
The Prime Minister mostly focussed on the welfare of farmers and poor people of the country. “We’re spending 90,000 crore, or about 1 lakh crore, on several irrigation projects, and if I wanted to do politics I would have distributed all the money among the farmers. But, I chose to spend them on irrigation projects so that even their next generation will benefit.”
Slamming the previous governments, PM Modi said they had little concern for farmer’s welfare and the “delay in completion of the Mandal Dam was proof of that”. The work in Barwadih block had begun in 1972, but was stalled since 1993. “During this 25 years, the cost escalated from ` 30 crore to ` 2,400 crore…isn’t it criminal lethargy?...it also shows how Bihar and Jharkhand were neglected by the previous governments... now you tell me, should Modi not fight against such people?”.
He also cited his government’s initiative to provide roof over the heads of 1 core 25 lakh poor people by the year 2022 through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) and handed over keys of houses to five beneficiaries. “I’m glad that 25,000 poor people in Jharkhand have already been distributed houses under PMAY... Unlike the previous governments, we do not believe in naming schemes after politicians as the benefits people get under such schemes matter more to us…so it is named after the Prime Minister, whoever it is,” he said
“Earlier when madam was running the previous government through remote control, there were middlemen in such welfare schemes. But we’ve made the system totally transparent and money now goes directly to the bank account of the beneficiaries”. Earlier, they were constructing houses under this scheme in 18 months, but now “it takes just 12 months”, he said.
The Prime Minister also congratulated Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Jharkhand CM Raghuvar Das and MPs of both the States for keeping a watch on the Mandal Dam project. “I would like to say that both the governments have strengthened federalism of the country through this irrigation dam”, he said. The Mandal dam project would benefit farmers of Palamu, Latehar, Chatra and Garhwa districts of Jharkhand and neighboring Aurangabad and Gaya districts of Bihar.
e.o.m.