PM Launches free LPG scheme, e-boats in UP- I’m here to fight poverty, not for campaigning: Modi

Before addressing the gathering, PM also handed out LPG connections to 10 BPL women. Modi also attacked previous governments for doing little for the poor in the state. Claiming that poverty in Uttar Pradesh increased despite the several leaders from the state becoming prime ministers, he said: “What were the loopholes in policies because of which we could not empower poor to fight against poverty. What were the reasons that forced the poor to beg before the governments and broke their self-confidence… Schemes were planned with an eye on the ballot boxes only and not with a focus on the poor. Hence, poverty could not eradicated. Poverty can only be removed by empowering poor to fight against poverty by fulfilling their basic needs like education, electricity, drinking water, toilets and medical services.”

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Modi lauded his government’s efforts to push rural electrification in UP. “In 250 days only, my government has provided electricity access in 1,326 villages and presently at least three new villages were getting access to electricity every day in UP,” the PM said. He also pointed out that the state had 1,529 villages where even electricity poles had not reached at the time he was sworn in as PM.

Sunday’s event also coincided with May Day and Modi it was time for labourers to unite the world.
“In today’s scenario, the slogan should be — labourers unite the world. The workers’ sweat is the strongest cement to unite the world,” said Modi, while listing his government intitiatives for the working class like introduction of labour identification number (LIN). He said that his government had hiked minimum pension and bonus for labourers as well.

About PMUY, PM said there was a time when MPs were being given 25 coupons annually to distribute LPG connection. “There were media reports that MPs did black marketing of these coupons and people paid upto Rs 15000 to get these coupons. But now onwards, 10,000 to 50,000 people in constituency of each Lok Sabha member will get LPG connection every year,” the PM said. He added that his government has given LPG connections to more than three crore households in past one year while only 13 crore families were given LPG access since 1955.

Later, PM reached Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, to distribute e-rickshaws and solar-powered e-boats. While addressing boatmen, who comes from numerically significant Nishad community, on the banks of Ganga, the Prime Minister accused the Congress-led governments of the past of pursuing “vote-bank politics” and naming government schemes after members of one family.

“Our approach is in stark contrast with the governments of the past which cared only for vote banks and devised poverty alleviation schemes which never aimed at eradicating poverty as such but only garnering votes of the poor during elections,” he said.

Without naming the Nehru-Gandhi family by name, the PM recalled that after the launch of seven satellites recently, “we felt a desire to name these after Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Shayma Prasad Mukherjee”.

“After all, have we not seen so many schemes being named after members of just one family. But ultimately we heeded the call of our conscience and called these satellites NAVIC which means boatman”.

“In this way, we have aimed at imparting dignity to boatmen who have rendered invaluable service towards making the ancient city of Kashi famous around the world,” he said. “We have launched schemes, which empower the poor to fight and defeat the poverty themselves. We are working in that direction,” he said.

Reaching out to the backward fishermen and boatmen communities (kevat, nishad, machchuara) and addressing them as “brothers”, Modi said his government is “for the poor”.

-PTI inputs, Varanasi

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