Sitharaman lauds India vax drive, scrapping of Art 370 at BJP national meet

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday lauded the initiatives taken by the Centre to curtail the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and reaffirmed the commitment of the party to seek justice for the victims of the political violence in West Bengal.

Sithararam addressed a press conference at NDMC Convention Center in New Delhi. She had also attended the BJP's national executive meeting today.

The Union Minister said, "While lauding the commendable work of vaccination done in India we also remember how the Opposition parties had raised many questions on vaccination carried by the government from the very beginning."

"Within 48 hours of announcing the lockdown, we came up with giving people food for free for eight full months - for 80 crore people. The 'PM-CARES for Children' programme for orphaned children showed how the PM and our government cares for the next generation and children. 'One Nation, One Ration Card' had also taken up and implemented speedily," the Union Finance Minister said.

She added, "We also discussed how after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the Block Development Councils and District Development Council elections were conducted and how people are willing to come out to participate in democratic processes."

"A statistics I'd like to highlight is the Industry Promotion Scheme worth Rs 28,400 crore, which was launched in Jan 2021, for Jammu and Kashmir. 54 projects worth Rs 56,201 crore have also been launched. Today, because of the Jan Aushadhi Yojana, affordable medicines are being made available to the poor and middle class. Also, over 75,000 health and wellness centres have been set up," the Finance Minister said.

The Union Minister also shared that the BJP strongly condemned the West Bengal post-poll violence and the party stands by every worker who has suffered. "We will stand by them during all legal processes and will support every BJP worker in the party in Bengal," she said.

Highlighting that India is looking at massive changes and the Digital India Mission is accelerating them, she said, "The Aatmanirbhar Bharat, helped by 'Make-in-India' and the 'Digital India Mission', will strengthen the nation."

Held after a gap of almost 1.5 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda attended the party's national executive meeting.