Congress rule was steeped in corruption: Prasad

Taking a dig at the Congress, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad today said the erstwhile UPA tenure was marked by corruption in all dimensions even as he praised the Narendra Modi government for uprooting corrupt practices.
"Just look at the level of their corruption. The corruption was everywhere -- in 'aakash', 'patal' and 'zameen' (in air, beneath the earth and on land). They did corruption in air through AgustaWestland scam, on land through 2G scam and beneath the earth through the coal scam," Prasad said.
He said corruption-free economic growth is the mission of the NDA government.

"I work from Sanchar Bhawan in New Delhi, where the 2G scam took place and (subsequently) (then Telecom Minister) A Raja went to jail. But I never changed the chair (in the office).
"Under the leadership of Modiji, our government has rooted out corruption from Telecom Ministry and the entry of middlemen is banned in my office," the IT and Communication Minister said.
He was in the city as part of the "Vikas Parv" to mark the second anniversary celebrations of the Modi Government.

Addressing BJP workers, Prasad listed out various achievements of the government in last two years.
"Union government under Modiji's leadership is on a fast-forward mode towards all-round development, which has transformed the country in two years.

"This is the account of the developments of the last two years, and we have three more years to do the job to serve each and every citizen of country and to see the impact of development that was deprived in the last 60 years," the BJP leader said.
On the ambitious 'Digital India programme', Prasad said, "The topmost priority is accorded to this programme. We are empowering the people across the country and changing their lives for the better. Currently, we have 102 crore mobile phone connections among the population of 125 crore. 100 crore people possess Aadhaar cards while internet penetration has reached up to 40 crore people".

"The state-run BSNL, which had posted Rs 8,000 crore
loss in 2014, has managed to post an operating profit of Rs 672 crore and its mobile phone subscription has shot up from 8 lakh to 23 lakh," the minister said.
He said the number of post office ATMs has risen to 913 across the country now from 4 ATMs in 2014.
"The Speed Post service of India Posts has been described as the best courier service in the country by the CAG," Prasad said.
"Despite the worldwide slump in economy and the fact that almost all the states of the country are drought-ridden, it has hoisted the flag of hope and development and is setting a role model for other countries," he said.