MoS HRD Katheria calls Rahul Gandhi 'Pappu'

Ram Shankar Katheria and Union minister Piyush Goyal were attending the Vikas Parv celebrations to mark two years of NDA rule

In an apparent dig at Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, Union minister Ram Shankar Katheria has said that 'Pappu' is not understanding the achievements of the Modi government which he termed as "excellent".

"Modi government is doing great deal of works but Pappu is not understanding it," he said.

Katheria and Minister of State for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal were here yesterday to take part in the Vikas Parv celebrations marking two years of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

The ministers lauded the welfare schemes and listed the achievements of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, terming the tenure as historic.

Listing the achievements, Goyal said the country has registered a GDP growth of 7.9% in the year 2015-16, claiming it to be the maximum by any of the big countries in the world, thus proving the strength of the economic policies of the government.

"India has made notable progress in power and coal production sectors and efforts are underway to ensure low power tariffs and regular power supply to the people," Goyal said.

He lauded the Jan Dhan Yojana started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that it has enabled lakhs of people of the country to have bank accounts.

He also hailed the new crop insurance policy for farmers and the efforts made for the ex-servicemen under the OROP scheme.

"The ex-servicemen were unheard for long and this government has allotted Rs 7,500 crore for One Rank One Pension (OROP)," Goyal added.

He said that the Centre is formulating a new aviation policy so that regional centres are connected with air connectivity under affordable rates.

Katheria said the Centre will soon bring a new education policy focussing on skill development.

"Consultation with educationists on the new education policy is underway and public opinion on the same is also being sought," Katheria said.

The minister said there is no proposal with the central government to shut down coaching institutes in Kota, adding, the suicide by students is unfortunate and it is the responsibility of everyone to create a positive environment to check such incidents.