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Modi in Lucknow: World is looking at India’s success
PM Modi accused the previous Samajwadi Party government of causing hurdles in the implementation of the central housing scheme, adding that the people in Uttar Pradesh will not forget such acts. The state goes to the polls early next year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday targeted the previous Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh by saying it had no interest in constructing houses for the poor, a remark that came during his visit to the poll-bound state to inaugurate a three-day event to commemorate 75 years of Independence.
Modi inaugurated the “Azadi@75 – New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape” conference-cum-expo in Lucknow under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava, an initiative of the Union government. He digitally handed over keys of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana—Urban (PMAY-U) houses to 75,000 beneficiaries in 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh and also interacted virtually with beneficiaries of the scheme.
The Prime Minister accused the previous government of causing hurdles in the implementation of the central housing scheme, adding that the people in the state will not forget such acts. Uttar Pradesh goes to the polls early next year.
He said that before 2017, “18,000 houses were approved for Uttar Pradesh for construction under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana but not even 18 houses were built by the previous government”. “There was money, there was sanction but those who were running the government were creating hindrance as they did not want to construct houses,” the PM said.
On the other hand, the Yogi Adityanath-led government has “completed nine lakh houses under the scheme and 14 lakh are under construction”, Modi said.
The Prime Minister said his government has made 30 million poor families “lakhpati” under the scheme by providing them houses. He said the previous governments used power as a tool of politics, as electricity was supplied to areas visited by their leaders. He said all the parts of the state were getting electricity now.
The Prime Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 75 urban development projects of Uttar Pradesh under the Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT; flagged off 75 buses under FAME-II for seven cities including Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Ghaziabad; and released a coffee table book on 75 projects implemented under various flagship missions of ministry of housing and urban affairs. He also announced the setting up of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Chair in Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU), Lucknow.
While digitally handing over keys of houses under the PM Awas Yojana, Modi spoke to some of the beneficiaries and said they will celebrate Diwali, Dussehra, Chhath and other festivals in their new houses.
Modi said Vajpayee brought the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and visualised the Golden Quadrilateral, a network of national highways. “When Atal visualised this connect with four metropolitan towns, some people did not believe this. Similarly, when I talked about toilets and houses, rapid rail, piped gas supply and optical fibre, then too some thought how this would be possible. But the world is looking at India’s success in these campaigns. India is building more PM Awas Yojana houses than the population of some countries,” he said.
He said his claim on “lakhpatis” was based on an assessment about the price of the houses given to 30 million people.
Modi emphasised that the government has made a serious effort to overcome the problems and challenges of the urban middle class and the law establishing the Real Estate Regulatory Authority was a major step.
“RERA has helped in getting the entire housing sector out of the mistrust and fraud and has helped and empowered all stakeholders,” he said.
The PM said urban bodies are also saving about ₹1,000 crore every year by installing LED street lights. “Now this amount is being used for other development works. Use of LEDs has also greatly reduced the electricity bill of the people living in cities,” he said.
Mentioning the state government’s plan to light 750,000 “diyas” in Ayodhya on this Diwali, Modi asked the Yogi Adityanath government to ensure two such lamps are lit in each of the 900,000 houses already given to the beneficiaries under the PM Awas Yojana in the state on that day.
Samajwadi Party leader Juhie Singh said: “The Prime Minister should do a fact check to compare the works of the SP government between 2012 and 2017 and by the Yogi Adityanath-led government in the past four-and-a-half-years.”
Professor SK Dwivedi, former head of department, political science, Lucknow University, said: “The accusations and counter accusations being made on various issues indicated that the political parties were in poll mode now.”
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Ashok Singh said the Prime Minister did not mention farmers, rising inflation and rising unemployment in his speech, and this reflected his concerns over such issues.
