Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that his government’s first priority is to eradicate poverty and make poor people self-reliant shortly after he arrived in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi on a day-long visit.
“I am surprised that those who did not open a single account in the banks are showing their concern that the accounts are not being operated properly. I am here to tell them that what they failed to do in 50 years, I will do in 50 months,” Modi told a gathering of the rickshaw pullers.
PM Modi said had his critics helped the poor open bank accounts when they were in power he would have been spared the worry. Modi said that more than 18 crore bank accounts have been opened under PM Jan Dhan Yojana and thanked the poor for depositing around Rs 30,000 crore in the banks.
In an indirect attack on the previous Congress-led governments’ popular slogan of ‘Garibi Hatao’, he said poverty has not been eliminated from the country despite all the experiments undertaken so far.
“We have been hearing the slogan of ‘Garibi Hatao’ for 40-50 years, but nothing concrete was done to eliminate poverty. It has become a tradition to chant in the name of the poor, there is a need to come out of it,” he said.
Modi also said education is the best and the least expensive way to fight poverty and urged the people of Varanasi to educate their children.
“The biggest weapon one can use to fight poverty is the education of children. I request you to please educate your children, no matter what the circumstances are,” Modi told the gathering.
Modi, who arrived in his constituency for the first time in 2015, also stressed the need for skill development to eliminate poverty and said with the help of technology the poorest of the poor can earn more and become self-reliant.
“Make a little change in their lives by enhancing their skills, and we will get wonderful results,” he said.
