In an unprecedented move, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman referred to former PM Rajiv Gandhi without naming him at the commencement of her budget speech. The political undertone in the budget was meant to buttress the Modi government’s achievements in expanding direct cash transfers to people across India. Sitharaman said, “A former PM had once observed that only 15 paisa of every rupee released by the government reaches the poor.”
Rajiv Gandhi had made the famous remark in 1985 during a visit to the drought hit Kalahandi district in Odisha. Gandhi’s remarks have been quoted by many leaders and policy makers over