Modi refers to 42-year-old project to attack previous governments

In a veiled attack against the previous governments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday referred to a rail project which got delayed by 42 years.

Taking a dig at previous governments, Modi said: "I review government projects every month. A specific project came to my notice. It was a 42-year-old project in which 70-72 km of railway lines were to be laid but the project was lying in limbo for the last 42 years,"

"When a country is capable of reaching Mars within nine months, how is it possible that it is not able to lay 70-72 km railway lines for 42 long years," Modi said in his speech here on the occasion of the country's 71st Independence Day.

Modi further said: "It sets doubts in the minds of the poor. We have taken care of all these things. We have been striving to bring in the changes through technology. Whether it is geo-technology or space-technology, we have tried to link all these technologies to bring in transformation."

The Prime Minister also observed that the implementation of government schemes was gaining momentum.

"When a work is delayed, it is not only the project that is delayed. It is not a matter of expenditure of money. When a work is stalled, the poor families are the ones who suffer the most," Modi said.

"We can reach the planet Mars within nine months, we are capable of achieving that," he added.

--IANS

sid/pgh/dg