SECC data: Congress accuses Modi of having 'contempt for poor'

Party spokesperson Rajeev Gowda alleges that the 'suit book ki sarkar' is only focused on the rich

With the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) findings projecting a very grim picture of the rural India, the Congress party on Saturday mounted an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of having “contempt for the poor” and alleging that the “suit book ki sarkar” is only focused on the rich.

Party spokesperson Rajeev Gowda also alleged that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was “hiding and suppressing” a data by the UNICEF, which “reveals” the Gujarat model of governance of Modi has been “disastrous” for the poor.

He said the release of the long-awaited the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011 has revealed there is tremendous work to be done in rural India and claimed the Congress governments in the past had made huge efforts in transforming rural India, such as bringing programmes like green revolution, white revolution and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MGNREGA).

“In contrast, what we saw after NDA came to power was Modi on the floor of the Lok Sabha mocking the MGNREGA and calling it a monument of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and Congress failures. It was contempt with which he had mocked this path-breaking progamme, which ensured a social safety net for the poorest of the poor in rural India”.

“After that, taking a cue from Modi’s contempt for the poor, the NDA government did not release MGNREGA fund, tried to cut down various programmes that will benefit people in rural India. The suit boot sarkar  is only focused on the rich and the wealthy, or their corporate cronies and not on the people of India, who desperately need help,” Gowda said.

On UNICEF data, Gowda alleged the NDA government had attempted to suppress its facts and statistics.

“The UNICEF data, which has been used by the same government for creating the Indradhanush programme, is now being rejected on various flimsy grounds but the Economist  has revealed why this government is hesitant to reveal the UNICEF data or to accept it.

“It is because the data show the performance of Gujarat on various human development indicators during the 12 years of Modi as chief minister was disastrous for the poor, women, children and tribals and everyone else who did not fit Modi’s idea for corporate India.

“For all his talk about Gujarat model, if you look at what its impact has been, it has been disastrous,” he said.

The aforesaid data -- Rapid Survey of Children (RSOC) 2013-2014—was commissioned by the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry in association with UNICEF.

Ahmed Patel, political secretary of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, had a few days back written a letter to WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi in this regard.

Gowda said that it needs to be ensured that as a nation, we do not let data like this to be suppressed and all kinds of survey assessment should be provided to state governments so that they can take action as per their own needs.

“I call upon this government to stop hiding the facts, to stop suppressing data and to ensure that transparent decisions are taken so that the poor and the vulnerable, which this government does not care about actually get a chance to prosper and progress,” the Congress spokesperson said.