Centre's schemes improving lives of poor: Amit Shah

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Saturday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre for its achievements and said the schemes launched by the Central government are aimed at improving lives of the poor in the nation.

"To address unemployment, the government has launched 'Make in India' campaign and has set up skill development department. We have launched 'Adarsh Gram Yojna', in which we have asked every MP and MLA to adopt a village and work towards its development. Our schemes are aimed at helping the poor of the nation," Shah said at a press conference here.

"As far as retrieval of black money is concerned, it is a priority agenda of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. After government formation, the first proposal passed during the first cabinet meeting was to form a SIT to probe the black money issue," he added.

Shah further said that the constitution of 'Niti Ayog' shows that his party believes in cooperation that goes beyond politics.

"Planning Commission has been functioning for the last 50 years, it had become obsolete. Prime Minister took the initiative and formed Niti Ayog, which will function by taking the views of all the state governments into account. We believe in co operation that goes beyond political boundaries," Shah said.

Taking a dig at Congress, he said that the BJP-led government at the Centre brought the growth rate back on track in just one quarter after coming to power.

"When we had handed over the reins of the government to UPA the growth rate of the nation was 8.6 percent, during UPA's 10 year rule it had dipped to 4.6 percent. After returning to power, we took the growth rate to 5.7 percent in just one quarter. This is a big achievement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government," the BJP president added.

Taking pot shots at the Janata Dal (United) government in Bihar, Shah said, "Bihar was on the path of development when BJP and JD (U) were in power. Ever since BJP ended alliance with JD (U), the law and order situation in Bihar has deteriorated."

Shah is on two-day visit to Bihar to meet party workers and lay down plans for the assembly elections in Bihar, which are scheduled for later this year.