PM: Open to changes in land Bill; MNREGA a Cong failure

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today dispelled allegations that the ruling BJP-led NDA Government was ‘pro-corporate’ and ‘anti-poor’; said he was open on making changes in the land acquisition Bill; listed the Constitution as the only ‘religion’ followed by his government and termed the employment guarantee scheme MNREGA as an example of ‘failures’ of the Congress.

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 27

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today dispelled allegations that the ruling BJP-led NDA Government was ‘pro-corporate’ and ‘anti-poor’; said he was open on making changes in the land acquisition Bill; listed the Constitution as the only ‘religion’ followed by his government and termed the employment guarantee scheme MNREGA as an example of ‘failures’ of the Congress.
During his more than 70-minute speech, Modi dwelt upon black money, corruption and coal block allocations, besides steps his government took like fiscal empowerment of states to strengthen federalism, cleanliness drive and Jan Dhan scheme as part of goo governance.
Replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address to the both Houses on February 23, the PM said his government stood for the poor, the farmers and the advasis. “Yeh gareebon ko samarpit sarkaar hai. (This government is dedicated to the poor)”.
Tackling allegations that he went abroad frequently, Modi said “If I go aboard, the farmer, the poor and adivasis are on my mind”.
On the Land Acquisition Bill, Modi said, “The Act passed in 2013 (during time of the Congress-led UPA) has inadequacies. We (the BJP) supported the Act when in opposition but when our government came to power in May 2014 chief ministers of all states said the new law was bad. The farmers need irrigation, roads and houses. “We need to correct the wrong... if you point to anything anti-farmer I am ready to made correction even now”, said Modi.
The PM took a dig at the Congress over rumours that MNREGA scheme was being stopped. "You may say that I do not have wisdom in some areas... But at least I do have some political wisdom...How can I shut down this scheme? ... MNREGA is a living example of your failures," he said.
Asserting that MNREGA will continue, he said he "will keep beating the drums that you formulated for the poor (the scheme) to force them to continue to dig holes in the ground even after 60 years of Independence. You have done good thing by leaving your footprints which people should know."