Addressing a gathering on the famous Assi Ghat on the banks of the river Ganges here, Modi said "Our approach is in stark contrast with the governments of the past which cared only for vote banks and devised poverty alleviation schemes which never aimed at eradicating poverty as such but only garnering votes of the poor during elections". .
"After all, have we not seen so many schemes being named after members of just one family. But ultimately we heeded the call of our conscience and called these satellites Navik which means boatman".
"In this way we have aimed at imparting dignity to the boatmen who have rendered invaluable service towards making the ancient city of Kashi famous around the world", he said.
"Earlier when something was talked about our Nishad brothers, the price of diesel was brought down by one rupee or so in the hope that they will cast their vote in favour. But we have made schemes, which empower the poor to fight and defeat the poverty themselves. We are working in that direction," he said listing a number of other schemes.
Modi, who is also the local Lok Sabha member, was speaking after the launch of"e-boats", which are traditional motorboats wherein diesel engines are replaced with batteries which are charged through solar panels retrofitted on the top.