Chennai: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the ruling NDA has brought in a fundamental change in governance under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, through its developmental schemes.
Speaking at an event here, Sitharaman said India is on the progressive path even as several developed countries were under the threat of falling into recession, while the nation’s growth was pegged at 7.2 per cent.
“Several leaders were opposing schemes like the Jan Dhan Yojana, asking how it is possible to deposit funds into their accounts (like poor and downtrodden). Today, there’s a balance of Rs 1.60 lakh crore in the accounts opened under the scheme,” Sitharaman said, after releasing a book titled ‘Modi@20 Dreams to Delivery.’
Sitharaman also flayed a senior political leader from Tamil Nadu for often criticising the Centre’s Jan Dhan scheme, wondering how it would work.
“He talks in English and says it is not possible to deposit funds into those accounts. We have a deposit of Rs 1.60 lakh crore in those accounts sir. What you want to say now?” she asked without naming anyone.
“He (Prime minister Narendra Modi) has shaken up the governance through the developmental schemes and often says he has come to power to change the fundamentals and not for the sake of assuming power,” she said.
The book was released today in the presence of senior BJP leaders, including Tamil Nadu President Annamalai, traces Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political journey from becoming the Chief Minister of Gujarat state to being elected as the PM in 2014.
The book is a compilation of chapters authored by eminent citizens, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Ace Shuttle player P V Sindhu, and Non-executive chairman of IT giant Infosys, Nandhan Nilekani.
Sitharaman described Modi as a leader with direct connect to the citizens, someone who understands their problems and has clarified that language was not a barrier for him.
“He was keen on listening to the views put forth by the people. That is why he used to tell that he has come to shake up the governance. I did not come here to enjoy power, but to change the fundamentals. This is what he used to tell”, she said.
Sitharaman recalled that during COVID-19 induced lock-down, the country’s economy came to a grinding halt and there was a challenging situation as PPE (personal protective equipment) gears worn by doctors and medical professionals to treat COVID-19 affected patients were imported then.
Under such circumstances, Modi regularly held meetings with CMs of all states to review the situation arising out of COVID-19 and today on the vaccination front, the country has breached 200-crore mark in administration of doses to people with vaccines produced in India, she said.
“The economy came to grinding halt caused by COVID-19 pandemic, then there is this Ukraine-Russia conflict, but today various credit agencies like Moody’s have said that India’s possibility of falling into a global recession was at zero percent.”
Even International Monetary Fund (IMF) which releases its report on global economy every six months, has revised the growth of the global economy from the earlier 5 per cent to 3 per cent due to the recession, but has pegged the growth of Indian economy at 7.2 per cent, she said, amid thundering applause from the audience.
Referring to the Centre’s presentation of Padma awards to various members of the public during the NDA tenure, she said the NDA government was identifying citizens hailing from humble backgrounds, but have done remarkable work for the welfare of the society, for the country’s top honour.
“This is one of the apt examples of Prime Minister’s vision of bringing in a fundamental change in the governance”, she pointed out.
The Finance Minister also said it was under the Centre’s Aspirational District Programme the districts that are considered as ‘most backward’ would be transformed into ‘aspirational districts.’
“As many as 116 districts were identified under the scheme and Modi has told that even those districts that are under non-BJP ruled states should be covered so that they become an aspirational district on par with others,” she said.
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