LUCKNOW: Targeting his detractors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday claimed that now they will have more reasons to attack him when they come to know that over three lakh people, the beneficiaries of government welfare schemes, had turned ‘lakhpatis’ during the last six years of his rule.
The PM substantiated his claim by saying that those lakhpatis had now ‘pucca houses’ worth lakhs under the PM Housing scheme.
Speaking at an event organised by the urban development department in Lucknow on Tuesday, the PM claimed that urban planning had been a victim of politics under previous regimes.
“Prior to 2017, the Centre had sanctioned 18,000 houses to be built for the poor in UP but not even 18 houses were constructed by the then state government which used to put roadblocks in the implementation of welfare schemes,” said the PM.
PM Modi also handed over keys of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U) houses to 75,000 beneficiaries digitally on the occasion.
“The people of Uttar Pradesh must understand the difference between the earlier dispensations and the present government,” said the PM and added that earlier governments did not wish to get houses constructed for the poor. “They were creating hurdles in getting houses constructed. The Yogi Adityanath government has given nine lakh houses so far and another 14 lakh houses are under different stages of construction,” added the PM.
However, the PM practised a guarded silence over the Lakhimpur violence though his visit came amid opposition outrage over the Sunday incident in which eight persons including four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.
The PM inaugurated the ‘Azadi@75 – New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape’ Conference-cum-Expo’ in the presence of Adityanath, defence minister Rajnath Singh, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel.
While handing over the keys to the house owners, the PM brought up the issue of women’s rights. “Women are deprived of their rights in the property. So we decided to give ownership of government houses to them,” he said patting the back of UP CM Yogi Adityanath for providing women with a relaxation of two per cent in the registration of houses.
Listing out the step taken by his government in providing houses to the poor, PM Modi said that construction of 1.13 crore houses was sanctioned during his six-year rule while earlier it used to be 13 lakh of which only eight lakh houses were built.
“Over 50 lakh houses have already been constructed so far and handed over to beneficiaries. Moreover, we authorised the beneficiaries to go ahead with the design of their own houses,” he said.