PM Modi addressed the Rajya Sabha today in his response to the motion of thanks for the President’s speech in the current budget session.
During his speech, PM Modi highlighted how the former UPA-era Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had himself listed out problems in the Indian governance system.
Former PM Manmohan Singh had highlighted how faulty tax collection systems prevent the poor of the country from getting benefits. He had stated how we need GST and a corruption-free environment to clean our system.
“It is through hard work and clean intentions that we, in the NDA government, have brought India into the Top 5 economies of the world. In the UPA era, India was among the ‘fragile five’ of the world economies,” the PM stated.
“The President in her address highlighted the 4 primary pillars in our country that need their problems solved. The poor, youth, farmers, and women. The President stated that we need development on these 4 pillars to realise the dreams of a developed India in the 21st century. We cannot realise these dreams via policies and mentality of the 20th century’
I don’t know why the Congress suddenly needed to play caste politics now. But the way the Congress has been behaving and governing the country when in power, I doubt whether the Dalits even would have got reservations had there not been Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Adding how the Congress worked against Dalits, the PM narrated how former PM Nehru once wrote to state CMs saying he never supported caste-based reservations. Nehru wrote, “I am vehemently opposed to caste-based reservations, especially reservations in jobs because it promotes inefficiency.” Nehru thought that if SC-ST-OBCs got reservations in government jobs, the efficiency levels and standards of government jobs would go down. The Congress is now trying to portray itself as the messiah of SC-ST and OBCs, but this is what the original ideology of Congress is, the PM added.
Citing the example of Jammu and Kashmir, PM Modi stated that by allowing Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress govt had deprived SC-ST and OBCs of their constitutionally granted rights for 7 long decades. “Forest Rights Act, Prevention of Atrocities Act etc were not applicable in J&K. We granted those rights to the Dalit communities by removing Article 370. Despite residing in Kashmir for several decades, the Valmiki community was deprived of domicile rights. We ensured domicile rights to the Valmiki community in Jammu and Kashmir by removing Article 370. Yesterday we passed another Bill in Lok Sabha by which Dalits can be represented in local body elections,” PM Modi added.
The PM added how Congress deliberately tried to prevent a tribal leader Draupadi Murmu from becoming the President. “If they had ideological differences in the Presidential elections, they would not have fielded a candidate who went from the BJP. They just wanted to prevent a tribal woman from becoming the President. Even to date, their leaders actively disrespect and use derogatory words for the President”, the PM stated.
