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PM Modi: Some people feel uneasy when I talk about growth in last 9 years
Addressing a public gathering in Guwahati, Modi said: “These days, there is a new phenomenon. Whenever I discuss the development that has taken place in the country in the last nine years, some people feel very uneasy. They complain that they too had ruled the country for decades but why can they not claim credit for the growth.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a scathing attack on the Opposition, saying his talks about development in the country ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power at the Centre in 2014 causes “uneasiness among some people” as they “cannot claim credit for the growth”.
Modi made the remarks during his day-long visit to Guwahati, where he inaugurated projects worth ₹14,000 crore for the state, including an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the capital city.
Later, he held a five kilometre roadshow, from Basistha to Sarusajai, and also witnessed the world’s largest Bihu dance with over 11,000 artistes.
The state on Friday created two Guinness World Records, for the “largest Bihu dance and largest dhol drum ensemble”. While 11,304 artistes participated in the Bihu dance, 2,548 artistes took part in the dhol (drum) performance. Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma received the certificate from Guinness adjudicator Rishi Nath for the record-making feat.
Addressing a public gathering in Guwahati, Modi said: “These days, there is a new phenomenon. Whenever I discuss the development that has taken place in the country in the last nine years, some people feel very uneasy. They complain that they too had ruled the country for decades but why can they not claim credit for the growth.”
Modi said the “hunger for credit” and the idea of “rules” have negatively impacted the country. He said the previous governments considered the North East to be a “faraway place” that led to a sense of alienation.
“The public are like gods. Those who ruled earlier thought of the North East as a faraway place and created a sense of alienation. We work with a sense of selfless service and dedication for the masses,” he told the crowd.
Social infrastructure has significantly improved in the North East in the last nine years, he said, adding “what people find amazing is the expansion of the educational and health infrastructure in the region”.
The Prime Minister said he was happy “to note that the people of North East have come forward to take the reins of development in their own hands and are marching ahead with development as their mantra”.
In this “new revolution of progress”, Modi said, the Centre is functioning like a friend, a ‘sevak’ (servant), working with all states in the region.
Besides the 750-bedded AIIMS that has been built at a cost of ₹1,120 crore, the Prime Minister inaugurated three new medical colleges in Nalbari, Nagaon and Kokrajhar districts, built at a combined cost of ₹1,550 crore.
He also laid the foundation stone of an advanced healthcare innovation centre at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, and launched a healthcare scheme, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to provide free medical treatment worth ₹5 lakh each year to 11 million beneficiaries at any state recognised hospital.
Modi said that nine years of the BJP rule at the Centre had led to an improvement in the communication network in the North East, as well as an increased impetus in the education and health sectors.
Sarma, who also addressed the gathering, said: “We are trying to fulfil the Prime Minister’s goal of having a medical college in each district. Today, the state got three new ones, taking the total to 12. In the next three to four years, we will take that figure to 23.”
The Congress, however, said several promises made by the Prime Minister in the past remain unfulfilled.
“The Assamese people always welcome their guests and we are happy that the Prime Minister visited Assam on the first day of Bohag Bihu. But we are still waiting for fulfillment of many promises that he made prior to 2014, including ridding the state of illegal immigrants, Scheduled Tribe status to six communities of the state and ₹355 as minimum daily wage for tea garden labourers. Modi has visited Assam many times after that but these promises remain unfulfilled,” Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah said.
Modi also addressed the platinum jubilee celebrations of Guwahati high court later in the day.
He said that a “strong and sensitive” judiciary is key to fulfilling the dreams of Indians in the 21st century.
