Modi government

The BJP on Tuesday released a 104-page chargesheet against the Congress government in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, alleging large-scale corruption, nepotism and scams under the Bhupesh Baghel dispensation. The Congress government failed to fulfil a total 316 promises the party and its former president Rahul Gandhi made on various occasions including during the last assembly polls, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged while releasing the chargesheet at a press conference at the party headquarters here.

Raising the issue of law and order in the state, Patra alleged mafia and criminals have been given a free hand in the state. “The Congress government has ignored more than 5,900 rape cases. This is the real face of the Congress in Chhattisgarh,” he charged.

On the issue of corruption and the Congress’ performance, Patra claimed Gandhi had promised “100 percent ban'” on the sale of liquor in Chhattisgarh but the state witnessed a “liquor scam” worth over Rs 2,000 crore under the Baghel government..

“The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leader Sanjay Singh had demanded that Bhupesh Baghel be arrested in connection with the scam,” the BJP spokesperson said.

“Just think, the biggest mafia says they (Chharttisgarh government) have gone against them,” he said, taking a swipe at the AAP in an apparent reference to alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

Patra also alleged a Rs 600-crore scam in the PDS scheme under the Congress rule in Chhattisgarh. All the facts in this connection are there in a Comptroller and Auditor General report, he claimed.

He also alleged a scam worth Rs 5000 crore in the Centre-sponsored free grains scheme launched to provide support to those in need during the Covid pandemic

“The Bhupesh Baghel government showed how profits can be made even in times of pandemic. In the rice that Prime Minister Modi had sent for poor people, scam worth Rs 5000 crore happened in the state,” he added

He alleged corruption and nepotism in filling government vacancies , claiming that “many of the Congress leaders’ relatives” got government job in Chhattisgarh.

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The new Women Reservation Act has provisions for reservations for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe women as per the constitution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while addressing a public gathering at Bodeli in Chhota Udepur district in Gujarat on Wednesday, the second day of his two-day visit.

Underlining that avenues have now opened up for all women to participate in Parliament and the Assembly, Modi mentioned that the Constitution provides reservations for SC and ST communities. India’s first tribal woman President, Draupadi Murmu, has signed this law, he noted.

At Bodeli, Modi laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation, projects worth more than ‘5,200 crore including laying the foundation stone and dedication of multiple projects worth more than ₹4,500 crore under the ‘Mission Schools of Excellence’ programme. He also laid the foundation stone for ‘Vidya Samiksha Kendra 2.0’ and various other development projects.

Addressing the gathering, Modi recalled his long association with the region. Recalling his days as a Karyakarta and his time in the villages of the region, Modi said he is very familiar with the life of the tribal community in the area.

While he dealt extensively on the work that the government is doing in the education sector, Modi said that under the new National Education Policy , education in the mother tongue will create new opportunities for tribal students and empower them. He said more than 14,000 PM SHRI Schools and Eklavya Residential Schools are transforming lives in tribal areas. SC/ST scholarships are also helping students.

Earlier in the day, he addressed the programme marking the 20 years celebration of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit at Science City in Ahmedabad. Addressing the gathering, Modi that the seeds sown 20 years ago have taken the form of a magnificent and diverse Vibrant Gujarat.

Recollecting the horrors of the 2001 earthquake and the successive years of drought, Modi said the crisis was compounded by the collapse of Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank leading to a chain reaction in other cooperative banks also. Modi recalled that it was a new experience for him as he was new in the role in the government at that time. In this scenario, violence erupted in Gujarat in the wake of the heart-rending Godhra incident.

“I took a pledge that whatever be the circumstances, I will take Gujarat out of this situation. We were not just thinking about reconstruction but were also planning for its future. We made the Vibrant Gujarat Summit one of the chief mediums for this,” Modi said.

Highlighting that Vibrant Gujarat had become a medium to uplift the spirits of the state and engage with the world, he said the Summit became a platform to showcase the decision-making and focused approach of the state government to the world while also bringing to the fore, the industry potential of the country. He said Vibrant Gujarat has been effectively used to present countless opportunities in many sectors, showcase the talent pool of the country, and highlight the nation’s divinity and cultural traditions. Speaking about the time of organisation of the summit, he mentioned that Vibrant Gujarat became a festival for the industrial development of the state as it is organised during the hustle and bustle of Navratri and Garba. Later, he also held a roadshow in Vadodara and addressed the women workers of the BJP.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said his aim is to make India a global growth engine and expressed confidence that the country will soon emerge as an economic powerhouse of the world.

Speaking at an event to mark 20 years of success of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, Modi said they sowed small seeds of a “Vibrant Gujarat” 20 years ago, and today it has developed into a big tree.

Modi also said that Vibrant Gujarat became a success at such a time when the previous central government (UPA dispensation) was “indifferent” to the industrial progress of the state.

“We organised Vibrant Gujarat to make the state a growth engine of India. The country has seen this imagination becoming a reality. In 2014, when I was given the opportunity to serve the country, my aim was to make India a global growth engine,” Modi said addressing a gathering of industrialists and businessmen.

Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP president C R Paatil were also present on the occasion.

“We are standing at such a phase that India will soon emerge as a global economic powerhouse ,” Modi said, adding that global agencies and experts are today talking on similar lines.

“In a few years, India will be among the world’s top three economies. This is Modi’s guarantee,” the PM said.

He appealed to the country’s industry to think of sectors where India can explore new possibilities or strengthen itself, and how Vibrant Gujarat can give momentum to this mission.

Modi highlighted how from a humble beginning, the Vibrant Gujarat events have turned into an institution and many states later followed it by organising their own investment summits.

Swami Vivekananda said that every work passes through three stages- first it is mocked, later it faces opposition and finally it is accepted, especially when the idea is ahead of time, Modi noted, comparing the success of Vibrant Gujarat and how it passed through different stages.

Today the world can see the success of Vibrant Gujarat, he said.

“But when it was organised earlier, the then Central government showed indifference to Gujarat’s development. I have always talked about India’s development through Gujarat’s development, but those in power at the Centre had also associated Gujarat’s development with politics,” Modi said.

The then ministers in the central government used to refuse to attend the summit, he said.

“They told me personally they would join, but later refused, perhaps after pressure from the top. Far from support, they were busy creating hurdles,” he said, adding that even foreign investors were threatened not to go to Gujarat.

“Despite such threats, foreign investors visited Gujarat even when there was no special incentive here. They came here because they could experience good governance, fair governance, policy-driven governance, an equal system of growth, and a transparent government in daily life,” he said.

Recalling the first Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2003, Modi said it became a success because of the state’s people in whom he had huge trust.

He said he was a first-time chief minister and faced crises such as the 2001 earthquake, preceding drought years, collapse of cooperative banks, the 2002 Godhra tragedy and the state-wide violence in its aftermath.

“Even then, those with an agenda analysed the events in their own way. They said the youth, industry and business will leave Gujarat, and Gujarat will be destroyed in such a way that it will become a burden for the country,” the PM said.

There was a conspiracy to defame Gujarat globally, and an attempt was made to create a situation of hopelessness, he said.

“It was said that Gujarat will never stand on its feet. Amid such a crisis, I took a pledge that whatever the situation, I will take Gujarat out of all this,” Modi said, adding that Vibrant Gujarat became an important medium for the same.

“It became a medium to increase the confidence of Gujarat and make it face the world confidently,” he said.

The summit became a medium to showcase Gujarat’s decision-making process and its focussed approach to the world, Modi said.

The event became a medium to showcase the industrial capacity of India, including Gujarat, to the world, infinite possibilities of the country’s various sectors, use of India’s talent within the country, and a medium to show India’s cultural tradition to the world, he said.

When Vibrant Gujarat was launched, there were no big hotels for foreign delegates to stay, he said.

Modi recalled that when the summit was organised in 2009 amid global recession, everybody including his then officers suggested that it be cancelled, but he decided to continue. The 2009 summit added a new chapter of success, he added.

From a few hundred participants in 2003, today more than 40,000 delegates participate, In 2003, only a handful of countries participated. Today, more than 135 countries participate. From 30 exhibitors in 2003, the number has grown to more than 2,000 now, he said.

Behind the success of Vibrant Gujarat are core elements like idea, imagination and implementation, Modi said.

The concept was unheard of in the country, but people understood its importance with time. After some time, other states also started organising their own business and investor summits, he said.

“We showed courage to make a developed country our partner country. It was hard to think of a small state to make a developed country its partner,” he said.

However good ideas and imagination, to mobilise the entire system and develop a vision is a very big thing, Modi said.

To organise something of this scale, big planning, investment in capacity building, eye on every detail and hard work is required, he noted.

“From being a one-time event, today Vibrant Gujarat has become an institution whose system and process continue round the year,” the PM said.

He said Vibrant Gujarat achieved a new height of success every time because the process was institutionalised.

Modi said through the summit, the state government (then headed by him) tried to benefit all the states. “Very few have understood my thinking,” he added.

In the 21st century, Gujarat has become an agricultural powerhouse, financial hub and established its identity as an industry and finance ecosystem, Modi said.

It has also helped strengthen the state’s trade-based reputation, as the summit worked as “an incubator of ideas, innovation and industry,” the prime minister said.

In the last two decades of Vibrant Gujarat journey, the state has seen growth in several sectors, Modi said.

He said within today’s deeply connected world, financial cooperation among institutions is rising fast, and Gujarat already has the GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City), the relevance of which is increasing day by day.

“We should increase our effort to make the GIFT City a globally competitive financial market place. For this, we can take benefit from our large domestic demand. Vibrant Gujarat should strengthen the GIFT City to make its global presence,” he said.

Amid the success of Vibrant Gujarat, there is no time to pause, Modi said, as the next 20 years are more important than the past 20 years.

“This is the time for India to make a roadmap to become a developed, self-reliant country. I am certain that you will all think in this direction and take steps for the same,” he said.

The PM also inaugurated an exhibition put up at the Science City here to mark 20 years of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. He also visited various attractions at the Science City, including an aquarium, a robotic gallery and a nature park.

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