There was a time when we were being seen as a sinking ship. But today we are seen as a bright spot in the economy, said PM Modi.
In his second interview to a private news channel CNN-News 18 on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi touched on many issues, including the Kashmir unrest, Robert Vadra land deals, Dalits, the Indian economy among others. Speaking on the Kashmir issue, PM Modi said, “I always maintain that people of Kashmir need both development and trust. And 125 crore Indians have always stayed committed to development. We will march on the path of development and trust.”
On the Dalits issues, PM Modi told CNN-News 18, “All those self-appointed guardians who were trying to create tension in the country did not like that Modi is with the Dalits… That Modi devotes himself to tribals. I am devoted to the welfare of all Dalits, oppressed, underprivileged and deprived.”
Commenting on the Robert Vadra land deals in Haryana, PM Modi rejected allegations of vendetta and insisted that there are no instructions from his government for conducting probe against any political party or dynasty. “I have been Chief Minister of a state (Gujarat) for 14 years. The history is witness to it that I have never opened any file because of political reasons. There has been no such allegation against me. It has been over two-and-a-half years here (in government at the centre). There is no instruction from the government to open any file.”
Here are the Highlights of his interview:
# Why should one who lives in the present worry about history? One must not make that mistake. Government and political parties have always worked hard form their own image. The image of this country is the 1.25 billion people. Modi’s identity must be lost in these 1.25 billion, There is no greater joy if than to be lost in history.
# My work is my relaxation. I never get tired of working. The opposite tires me.
# I have been painted as the one who doesn’t listen, and only talks down. I actually hear a lot and observe a lot. And I have evolved as a person. I’m a workaholic, and live in the present. If you come to meet me then I will be immersed in the meeting. When I read files, I get immersed in them. The same with my tours. That’s why the person who meets me is always satisfied that I have given him quality time.
# The media is doing its work. And it should. I believe media should strongly criticise the government’s work. Otherwise democracy will not work. But because of the TRP race, media doesn’t have enough time for research. And criticism is not possible without research. For 10 minutes of criticism you need 10 hours of research. Instead of criticism, they get into levelling allegations. I want media to be critical based on facts. The country will benefit from this.
# So I don’t want to waste time addressing this group. I will not lose anything if I don’t associate myself with Lutyens Delhi. It’s better to live with the poor who like me.
# There is no question of liking or disliking Lutyens Delhi. There is a need to deliberate on this. There are a active group of power brokers in Delhi. It could be their own reasons for personal gain. Look what happened with Sardar Patel. This group presented Patel as a simple villager with low intellect. Look what happened to Morarji Desai. The same group never talked about his abilities.
# I always maintain that people of Kashmir need both development and trust. And 125 crore Indians have always stayed committed to development. We will march on the path of development and trust.
# It’s unfortunate that in our country everything we do is immediately linked to elections. Super political pundits can’t get politics out of their minds. Their minds are buzzing with politics and it runs faster in AC rooms. The poison of casteism and communalism have caused enough damage to our country.
# My path is a little different. We have to empower the poor to end poverty. If the poor are empowered, they can end their poverty. Freedom from poverty can only come from empowerment. The biggest tool for empowerment is education. Poverty alleviation has been a political slogan. There is a lot politics around poverty.
# We need to be committed social Justice.
# They must stop giving political tones to social problems. It doesn’t matter whether the incident is big or small. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. I’m devoted to the development of all Dalits. Those who see this as an obstruction to their politics are levelling baseless allegations.
# It hurts the interests of the country, such incidents must not happen, Violence against dalits and tribals, data shows that these incidents have gone down as compared to the previous govt. Law and order is state subject, Some issue are selectively picked up and blaming Modi for it. I don’t know how it serves any purpose.
# Development is our only agenda and it will remain so. And this is not a political issue. This is my conviction. We need to empower the poor. As far as some incidents are concerned, they have no place in civilised society.
# This black money stashed abroad belongs to the country’s poor. No one has the right to loot them of this right. This is my commitment.
# I have never indulged in any cover up. History is testimony to the fact that I have never opened an file on political considerations.
#And my motto is ‘short cut will cut you short’.
# Despite that, the pace at which roads are being made railway is expanding, there has been six-fold increase in manufacturing.
# All issues from the past have impacted private investment.
# Direct benefit transfer is a big reform.
# This time the rains have been good and this helps agriculture, which is good for the economy.
# We are getting in more technology. These have to be done at a larger scale. Want to focus on how to make life easier for common man and how they can get what is their right.
# We removed 1700 laws that were from the 19th and 20th centuries and I have asked stated to do so. These are very big reforms that people because of lack of information don’t know about. I believe in reform, perform and transform.
# Today growth is being talked about in all sectors. Electricity production has gone up, Infrastructure work is also grown rapidly, and that happens when there is demand in the economy.
# Those policies which are helping growth are being emphasised. All this had resulted in the speeding up of the economy.
# Yes, there was a paralysis in the govt. One one hand this was this situation, one the other we had to face two successive droughts, thirds was the slowdown in the global economy.
# Today there is sometimes mistrust between states, GST will make this process very transparent.
# After GST, all the movement of goods from one state to the other will become seamless.
# Most don’t pay taxes because the process is so complicated they feel they might get stuck.
#There was a time when we were being seen as a sinking ship. But today we are seen as a bright spot in the economy.
# People had lost hope, they though everything was sinking. However good the doctor, if a patient is despondent medicines will not cure him. If the patient is hopeful then an average doctor can cure him.
