Punjab: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday invoked the welfare of farmers’ children to justify the Land Bill as he maintained that efforts are being made to “mislead” the farming community over the new measure.
Pitching for the proposed new legislation that is facing stiff resistance from almost all opposition parties, he said it is necessary to bring about development which will benefit the farmers and their families as well.
“Efforts are being made to mislead farmers in various ways. I talked about it yesterday also in my ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme,” Modi said addressing an event here organised in the memory of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru on their martyrdom day.
“If there is no development, what will happen to your children? Do you want them to live in ‘jhuggi jhopris’ (slums) of Delhi and Mumbai? Development will bring benefits for the farmer, their children as well as their villages,” the Prime Minister said.
The controversial Bill was passed by Lok Sabha earlier this month but has got stuck in Rajya Sabha because of a united opposition which has stepped up its campaign against the measure.
He said that the CAG’s assessment of the loss in the coal-block allocation scam was much less than what it actually was. .
“There was also a ‘zero loss theory’,” he said targeting the previous UPA ministers who had contended so.
After the scam came to light, Supreme Court cancelled the allocation of 204 coal blocks, the Prime Minister noted.
“This happened as soon as we came to power. It was their sin but we faced a situation where power plants were about to face closure on account of lack of coal. So, we decided to go for auction.
“Out of 204 coal blocks cancelled, only 20 have been auctioned so far and more than 180 are still left.
Since an honest government is in place, Rs two lakh crore was deposited in the national treasury on account of auction of these 20 coal blocks,” Modi said, adding that it will benefit the poor.
Slamming the previous Congress-led government without naming it, he said, “they left no areas” (in terms of corruption).
He said he had told his ministers to get an assessment conducted of the losses.
“A survey has started. The states and the Centre are with you in this crisis situation. We will not hesitate in giving whatever help we can,” the Prime Minister said. (PTI)
