BJP national general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Arun Singh said that the country’s GDP will increase only with the provision of basic amenities, and India can become a $5 trillion economy only through development of human resources.
Mr. Singh was speaking at an ‘intellectual meet’ organised by the party, here on Wednesday.
“While the allocation for the health sector was a mere ₹34,000 crore in the 2013-14 budget, it was increased to ₹2,23,000 crore in the present budget. An amount of ₹5 lakh crore was allocated to provision of basic amenities in the health sector,” he said.
Mr. Singh said that the agriculture sector’s contribution to GDP was little. The supply chain management was being strengthened and farmers were given freedom to sell their produce without any restrictions. An amount of ₹1 lakh crore was being spent on improvement of basic amenities in rural areas. He felt that farmers would be able to grow better crops only if their income is increased.
The BJP leader said that people continue to have strong faith in the Modi government. The party has won 14% votes in Andhra Pradesh for the first time in 25 years, and expressed hope that the vote share would increase further and help the party become a formidable force in the State in the future.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had initiated inclusive growth after 70 years of Independence by directing the banks to open accounts in the names of those who did not even have a bank account. Accounts were opened in the names of 40 crore poor beneficiaries who had no accounts till then. The money being given to them under various welfare schemes was being directly transferred to their accounts, thereby eliminating middlemen, who were earlier siphoning off the funds,” he said.
The opening of bank accounts proved to be a boon during the COVID-19 pandemic for transfer of funds to various sections of the poor, who lost their livelihood. BJP State president Somu Veerraju and party leader and former MLA P. Vishnu Kumar Raju were present.