Rewa (MP): Blaming policies of successive
Congress governments for the plight of the poor, BJP President
Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that the amount of money involved
in 2G and CWG scams was enough to eradicate the poverty.
"Due to the wrong policies of the successive Congress
Governments since independence, and the corruption, the poor
in the country are becoming poorer," Gadkari said while
addressing the Antyodaya Mela here.
The Mela (gathering) had been organised for providing
benefits of the state government`s welfare schemes to eligible
persons on the spot.
"If the Rs 1.76 lakh crore and Rs 70,000 crore involved
in 2G and CWG scams had been spent on the welfare of the poor,
poverty could have been eradicated from the country by now,"
the BJP president said.
He also said that the five committees, including the one
constituted by the Planning Commission have reached the
conclusion that the daily income of more than 50 per cent
of the population is less than Rs 20.
Gadkari also blamed the Congress for unemployment,
poverty, inflation and hunger in the country.
Praising Madhya Pradesh Government, he said the
schemes like `Ladli Laxmi` initiated by the Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan are being replicated in other states.
He also praised the state government for providing
loans to farmers at the rate of three per cent interest and
criticised his home state Maharashtra, where "loan for
Mercedes car is available at 8 per cent while for tractor it
is 13 per cent".
Addressing the function, Chouhan highlighted various
steps taken by his government for the welfare of the people
specially, Ladli Laxmi Yojna, providing school dress and cycle
to girl students among others.
He also announced that from the next academic year,
boys will also get the school dress and cycles.
Referring to the issue of farmers suffering losses due
to severe cold wave and frost, he said that he has instructed
officials to provide compensation for the damaged crops, even
if the loss is little less than the required 50 per cent of
the total sown area.
At the Antyodaya Mela, 26 departments will provide
benefits of 170 welfare schemes on the spot to 56,000
beneficiaries in the presence of Chief Minister, concerned
Ministers and Principal Secretaries.
PTI
