“This is the beauty of double-engine development,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday as he interacted with beneficiaries of a central food security scheme in Uttar Pradesh through video-conferencing. Modi’s remarks came when Badami Devi from Varanasi told him, “You have transformed our hearth and home. You have given us so many facilities, free foodgrains being one.” The prime minister’s “double-engine” reference was to the BJP governments at the Centre as well as in the state.
He was interacting with select beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in Varanasi, Sultanpur, Kushinagar, Saharanpur and Jhansi. Asked by the prime minister what other facilities she was getting, Badami said, “We have got pucca houses, ration cards, gas cylinder, electricity connection and toilet.” During the interaction, she repeatedly referred to Modi as “mantriji” instead of “pradhan mantri”.
“Bal bacchhe sukhi hai (children are happy),” another woman, Amlawati Devi, said from Kushinagar. She added that under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, her family was getting 5 kg wheat or rice per person every month. “We have also got soap and masks to fight the coronavirus,” Amlawati Devi chuckled.
Pankaj, a small-time trader from Jhansi, said villagers in his area were satisfied with the arrangements. People are taking care of water bodies in the area and irrigating their fields to grow paddy and groundnut, he added.
Babita Devi of Sultanpur said the money sent by the Centre went straight to their bank account and there was no pilferage. Kamlesh of Saharanpur said she has a decent house now, and guests were visiting them, and added that she had enough grains to feed them as well.
After listening to the beneficiaries, Modi thanked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, describing him as “not only a yogi but a karmayogi”. As the prime minister launched the awareness programme to ensure that no beneficiary is left out from availing the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, he said, “During previous regimes, foodgrains meant for poor were looted.” Almost 15 crore beneficiaries in the state have been getting rations free of cost under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, an official statement said.
Nearly 80,000 fair price shops in UP have been distributing foodgrains to these beneficiaries, it added. District supply and marketing officers ensure the availability of foodgrains at every fair price shop, the statement said.
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