THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union Minister for HRD Smriti Irani said here on Saturday that CBSE would organise a national-level ‘Kala Utsav’ for its students in New Delhi in December. She was in the capital city to inaugurate the state-level Rakshabandhan Maholsavom and to launch the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and Prime Minister’s Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.
Taking a dig at the Congress Government for making hollow promises for the last 60 years, she said the Narendra Modi Government has fulfilled its promises within six months of coming to power.
“When I became the HRD Minister, BJP state president Muralidharan had asked me to set up an IIT in Kerala. In the very first budget of the Modi Government we sanctioned the Palakkad IIT. Last week we inaugurated the first batch of the IIT here,” she said.
She also reminded that the Indian Institute of Information Technology(IIIT), Kottayam, was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s gift to Kerala. Referring to BJP state president V Muralidharan’s demand for organising a national-level arts festival for CBSE students made during her last visit to Kochi, she said the arts festival would be held in New Delhi at Sirifort auditorium in New Delhi in December.
Highlighting the concern of the Modi Government for the poor in the country, she said Modi had made the common man’s life secure by launching the Pradhan Mantri Bheema Suraksha Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
Now, people can start a zero balance account and thus join the bandwagon of financial inclusion. Those who have raised doubts about the project have now suddenly gone mute. Already, around `22,700 crore has been pooled up in these accounts. She claimed that 99 per cent of poor families in the country are now covered under scheme.
She said Prime Minister has now taken up the strenuous task of constructing at least one toilet each for boys and girls in all schools in the country. She said the people of the country were looking forward to the Prime Minister’s August 15 speech. She refuted the allegations that the NDA Government was trying to sabotage MGNREGS, and added that her government had increased`5,000 cr in the budget for the scheme.
BJP state president V Muralidharan, national executive memebr P K Krishanadas, state vice-president George Kurien, state spokesperson V V Rajesh, state secretary C Sivankutty, organising secretary A R Umakanthan, state secretary Radhamony, district president S Suresh, among others, attended the function.