The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
I know how a mom feels when there’s no ration at home: Modi
Says he knows what it’s like to live under weak roof, Cong can’t feel poverty
ADDRESSING HIS first rally in Chhattisgarh ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday referred to his own background as he highlighted his government’s work on poverty and tribal welfare.
He also said he would work “24/7 for 2047”, referring to the Centre’s plan for ‘Viksit Bharat (developed India)’ by the hundredth year of Independence.
“Mothers do not reveal their illness, so their families do not land in financial trouble. So, I though ti would become their son and worry about them… Congress never understood their problems. they never understood poverty. In 2014, people gave this poor man’s son an opportunity to serve. I know what it is to live under a weak roof. When there is no ration at home, I know what a mother feels. When there is no money to buy medicine, I understand the helplessness,” he said at the rally in Chotte Amabal village, around 45 km from Jagdalpur city, in Bastar district.
“Our government is for the poor and it gave them their rights, due to which over 25 crore people have been lifted out of poverty,” he said. The quiet village, which comes under Bastar LS seat, was abuzz Monday as thousands turned up for the PM’S rally. With the venue packed, many locals sat on the roads to listen to the speech.
PM appealed to the people to vote for the BJP’S Bastar candidate Mahesh Kashyap and Kanker candidate Bhojraj Nag. Bringing up his government’s schemes for the poor, the PM said that crores of poor people benefited from free medical treatment under the Ayushman Arogya Mandir initiative. This, he said, spared the beneficiaries from spending a combined Rs 1.30 lakh crore.
On the initiatives for the poor during the pandemic, he said, “During Covid, I stood with the poor of this country. We gave free vaccines and rations. Now, the free ration scheme has been extended for five years.”
“People used to say it took decades for vaccines to come when rich people’ s Congress governmentwas in power. bu ti provided free vaccine sat a time when it was being sold for thousands in other countries, and provided free ration when there was an uproar for food in other countries,” he said.
Further targeting congress, he said, “A former Congress PM said if we send re 1 from delhi, only 15 pa is er each ed the poor. why don' t you say who took that 75 paise then? I ended this. About Rs 34 lakh crore in 10 years was directly transferred to the banks of beneficiaries. The whole Re 1 reached your accounts, and that magic (of 75 paise vanishing) ended.”
Speaking of his government’s actions aimed at tribal communities, he said it set up a separate department for tribal welfare and increased the budget for tribal welfare by five times. He also said BJP gave Chhattisgarh a tribal CM and India its first tribal President. “Your dream is my resolution... Under PM Janman Yojna, Rs 24,000 crore will be spent on development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG),” he said.
At Chotte Amabal village, where Modi’s rally took place, many residents expressed excitement over the PM’S visit. “Our village has now become popular. Many hawkers, too, earned well. Before this, no politician above Ml a-level visited our village ,” said resident Jagdish Panigrahi.