Finish welfare initiatives in 5 years, PM tells party CMs
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states on Monday and instructed them to complete welfare programmes in their states by 2022.
During the meeting, which was also attended by party president Amit Shah and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj, the chief ministers were asked to highlight the BJP government’s pro-poor and welfare schemes through Sushashan Yatras (good governance rallies).
Held at the party headquarters in New Delhi, the meeting saw participation from 13 BJP CMs and four deputy CMs, who were also told to project the Congress as an “anti- OBC, antipoor” party.
Lashing out at the Congress for opposing a Bill that gives Constitutional status to the OBC commission, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath said the Sonia Gandhi-led party had exposed it’s “anti backward and antipoor credentials”.
The meeting came on the heels of the farmers’ unrest in Madhya Pradesh and children deaths in Gorakhpur, both of which have cast shadow over the BJP government’s claims of good governance and development.
Monday’s meeting took stock of the development and social welfare works in each BJP-governed state and reviewed the pace of central works.
“The PM and party president will monitor the process of all welfare programmes every three months till 2022. We have to fulfil the target of helping famers double their incomes,” Chattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh said after the meeting.
He said plans will be worked out to ensure that there is co-ordinated performance among various states.
Each state briefed the PM about the welfare measures announced by them and the propoor steps undertaken.
PM Modi has been unequivocal in publicising his government’s welfare programmes and has repeatedly underlined the need to communicate its policies to the electorate.
Since assuming office ay Centre in 2014, the BJP government has unfailingly highlighted its policies and reached out to people with a compendium of its achievements.
Recently, Shah unveiled the party’s blueprint for the 2019 general elections, directing party leaders to focus on gaining 120 winnable seats, which party lost in 2014 elections, and attempting to secure more than 350 seats.