Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lashed out at previous governments, saying the poor had to bear the brunt of their “wrong” policies and intentions.
He said the poor people never believed in the past that the government will help them get a roof over their heads.
“Their (previous governments’) policies were wrong and the poor had to bear the brunt of their wrong intentions,” he said while releasing financial assistance of Rs 2,691 crore to 6.1 lakh beneficiaries in Uttar Pradesh under the PradhanMantriAwasYojana.
The prime minister specifically criticised the state’s previous Samajwadi Party government for its alleged failure to take advantage of the Prime Minister AwasYojna (Gramin) after its launch in 2016.
“When we brought the PMAY-G in 2016, the government here, which you all removed, despite our repeated requests did not provide the names of beneficiaries,” said Prime Minister Modi.
“We were ready to provide funds but all requests, letters in this regard were ignored. This behaviour of the government of that time has not been forgotten by the poor,” he added, in his 30-minute speech through video conferencing.
“The poor did not believe that the government could help them in constructing houses. What kind of houses were made by earlier governments is known to all. It was because of the wrong policies. But it was the poor who had to bear the brunt in the name of destiny,” the prime minister said.
Modi also praised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the “all-round development” in the state and “speedy implementation of central schemes.
“In the past four years, the manner in which the Central government schemes have been implemented and provided momentum has given a new identity to the state,” the prime minister said.
“On one hand there is strictness with criminals and rioters and control on the law and order situation and, on the other, work on expressways and institutes like the AIIMS is on, expediting the speed of development,” he said, adding big companies are coming to the state even while the doors are open for small industry.
Hailing the One-District-One-Product scheme of the UP government for making local workers self-reliant, the PM said it would pave the way for achieving the target of ‘atmanirbhar Bharat.’
He also praised the efforts of the UP government during the difficult coronavirus times as well as its works for the migrants returning home.