The government will not deviate from its agenda of development despite negative media "headlines" or actions of "fringe elements", Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu said today.
"The PM has change the vocabulary of public discourse. It is development alone. All the other things which you find in newspapers, they try to make it only headlines, thinking that they can give a deadline to us but we don't deviate from our line of development," Naidu said while addressing an event here.
The information and broadcasting minister said the government does not believe in the ideology of "fringe elements" which are creating problems "here and there".
"That is not the policy of the government and the country do not agree with those guys...Our focus is on development and good governance," he said.
Naidu, however, did not cite any particular incident or the media report.
The minister's comments come a day after BJP president Amit Shah said that action is being taken against cow vigilantes.
"Everyone has to abide by the law. Cases have been registered and arrests made wherever such incidents have happened,"Shah said.
The comments also come against the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 23 urging all Chief Ministers to take care of students from Jammu and Kashmir in their respective states, in view of some recent untoward incidents against them.
Naidu, who also holds the portfolio of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, was addressing a 'workshop on smart cities and informed urbanization' here.
He said the government has approved over Rs 2.85 lakh crore of investment for urban development and housing schemes over the last two years.
Elaborating on smart city, he said the word Smart stands for Sustainability, Managing with citizen participation, Area based development, Resilience to climate change and Technology solution.
He said the country has seen a rapid urbanisation in the last two decades. "Urbanisation is very rapid. Whether you like it or not, it has become inevitable and then non- stoppable."
He said five Es are deriving people to urban areas. These, he said, are "education, employment, entertainment, economic activity and enhanced medical facilities".
In a lighter vein, he said. " Even I have migrated from rural development to urban development ministry."
After the NDA victory in the 1999 general elections, Naidu had became the Union Cabinet Minister for Rural development in the government headed by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
"I am a villager. My heart is full of sympathy for the rural people. When I asked what will I do as urban development minister, then my cabinet colleague told me you have been made urban development minister to serve the rural people who are coming to urban areas," he said.
The Minister also exuded confidence of meeting the target of Housing for all' by 2022. "That is a not a slogan but becoming a reality. In the last two years, I have sanctioned more than 18 lakh houses for urban poor," he said.
Naidu also said that his ministries will support the states which will perform well and not on the political lines.
"I don't see the political colour. I see the performance. That is why I tell the states that my cooperation depends upon your operation, otherwise there will be separation," he said.
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