Rejecting the opposition charge that his government is pro-corporate, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today listed a number schemes like Jandhan Yojana, Swachh Bharat, soil health card, housing-for-all and asked whether such programmes would benefit the rich or the poor.
In an hour-long reply to the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Rajya Sabha, Modi said the poor in the country are craving for quality of life and that he speaks for them.
Countering the opposition charge that his government was pro-corporate, he listed a number of schemes initiated for the poor and said the government is moving towards serving the "last man in the row -- daridra narayan (seeing God in the poor)".
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"Is the Swachchata Abhiyan for the corporates? The slumdwellers are yearning for quality of life. I talk of those poor when I talk about Swachchata. Is the Jan Dhan Yojana meant for the corporates? This is neither for the rich nor for the corporates.
"When I talk about toilets in government schools, what does it have to do with the rich and the corporates? It is for the poor, whose children go to government schools.
"When I talk of issuing soil health cards, is it working for the rich and the corporates? Will this money go in their accounts?
"Is our Housing for all scheme meant for making houses for the rich or the poor," he asked.
Referring to the decision to auction coal blocks, he said the revenues will benefit the states which have the rich reserves but are still poor.
