 "PM Narendra Modi")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that if the BJP comes to power in West Bengal, the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi will be passed in the first cabinet meeting and the farmers of the state will not only start getting the benefits of the Central scheme, but they will also receive the backlog of Rs 18,000.
Addressing an election rally at Haripal in Hooghly district, the Prime Minister said, "If the BJP comes to power in Bengal, I shall come at the oath taking ceremony and ask the Chief Minister to give approval to the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi at the first cabinet meeting so that I can send the money immediately. This will be the first job of the BJP government".
Launched in 2019, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi is a Central scheme that gives Rs 6,000 annual subsidy to the registered beneficiary farmers in three installments of Rs 2,000 each.
Taking a dig at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Modi said, "More than Rs 1.5 lakh crore has been sent to the accounts of 10 crore farmers, but the poor farmers of this state are yet to get this benefit because 'Didi' (Mamata Banerjee) didn't approve the scheme. I assure not only to give the benefits of the scheme, but also the Rs 18,000 backlog to each farmer."
The Prime Minister was referring to the three instalments of Rs 6,000 each given to the farmers which the farmers of Bengal were deprived of because of the opposition from the state's ruling Trinamool Congress.
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The Prime Minister also criticised Banerjee for not allowing the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in Bengal claiming that the state government's own project -- 'Swastha Sathi' -- is a better alternative to the Central government's health insurance scheme.
"She might have a project, but what is the harm in accepting the Ayushman Bharat scheme? People would have got an additional health cover of Rs 5 lakh. Moreover, the state-funded project is not accepted outside Bengal, but the Central project is accepted throughout the country," Modi said.
The Prime Minister also assured to start all the Central government projects in the state once the BJP is voted to power.
Confident of winning the ongoing Assembly elections in West Bengal, the Prime Minister said that Chief Minister Banerjee has not only cheated the people of the state, but she has also insulted them by saying that people are gathering at BJP rallies because of money.
Asking the crowd if they came to the rally braving the heat for money, Modi said, "The people of Bengal have fought the British. They have never compromised with the wrong. They are known for their self-respect and this is an insult to them".
Alleging that Banerjee and the syndicate racket of Trinamool Congress are responsible for the plight of the people of Bengal, Modi said, "The old factories are closed and there is no new investment. The people of Nandigram and Singur were betrayed and it is time for 'Ashol Poriborton' (real change).
"Once people used to come to Bengal for jobs and now the people of this state have to go outside in search of work. Election and democracy are not games. They are an effort to work selflessly for the people."
--IANS
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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
