Panipat: The Modi government’s three years have been marked by “confidence, character and commitment” towards public welfare including that of the minorities, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here today.
He claimed that the Centre has removed corruption, which he termed as the “biggest obstacle in the development of the poor”.
The government paved way for development, “reposing trust among the countrymen”, Naqvi told a public gathering here.
He listed the “historic decision” of demonetisation and surgical strike on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) as the government’s key achievements, attributing the same to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “confidence”.
“Be it economy, social reforms, battle against corruption, foreign policy, decisive action against terrorism, the Modi government is the most successful government in the country till now,” Naqvi said.
He said the government adopted ‘zero tolerance’ towards terrorism and defeated the “evil forces which were at work to harm India’s interests.”
The minister reiterated that the three-year period underlined “good-governance, inclusive growth and empowerment of all communities without appeasement”.
“The Modi government has been able to complete works which erstwhile governments led by the Congress failed to do,” he said.
Over two crore free domestic LPG connections were given to poor families during the three years, he said.
Naqvi said ‘Jan Dhan’ accounts of more than 26 crore people were opened during the span concerned, while over 13 crore poor people were included in various social security schemes.
Amid the criticism of the government over “poor” job creation, Naqvi said employment opportunities have been provided to 7.45 crore people by providing without-guarantee- loan worth Rs 3 lakh crore.
“70 per cent of the beneficiaries among these are women and also a large number of people belonging to SC/ST classes, backward classes and minorities,” he claimed.
The government, he said, was able to build over two crore toilets in 2016-17, while investment worth Rs 1.43 lakh crore flowed into electronics manufacturing sector under ‘Make in India’ programme.
The minister heaped praises on the government for making budgetary allocations of Rs 4,195 crore for the development of these communities for 2017-18, a hike of Rs 368.23 crore over the previous fiscal.
On his ministry’s performance, Naqvi said it provided leadership training to over two lakh women under its ‘Nai Roshni’ scheme.
He said the ministry also offered scholarships worth Rs 4740 crore to Rs 1.82 lakh students, established 33 degree colleges, 223 ‘sadbhav mandap’ (multipurpose community centres) and 18 Gurukul-type residential schools.
India’s annual Haj quota also saw “significant” rise during the period, he added
—PTI