Making the intentions of the party in the State crystal clear, Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan called upon BJP cadres to strive to bring the party to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2019 polls and exuded confidence that it would emerge winner in the elections to Tamil Nadu (TN) Legislative Assembly scheduled for next year.
This, he said, can be achieved by not merely celebrating the announcement of a slew of welfare schemes but by ensuring that their benefits reached the targeted sections.
Addressing the State party office-bearers’ meeting on Prime Minister’s MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) Yojana here on Friday, Mr. Radhakrishnan said that it was targeted to lend Rs.1.25 lakh crore under the scheme in 2015-16 and hoped that A.P. would corner at least 20 per cent share of it while TN tries to derive 10 per cent more benefit.
He observed that small and medium enterprises account for a major chunk of the jobs that were created after 1991 but their growth had been stifled by the difficulties in availing of institutional credit. The bank nationalization did not serve its purpose either.
The MUDRA Yojana was aimed at bridging this resource gap. The party cadres should spread awareness about it and personally see that the small businessmen and entrepreneurs who have been exploited by private money lenders, secured loans under the scheme starting from September 25 when it is scheduled to be launched in A.P.
Party National Secretary Sidharth Nath Singh asserted that no social security scheme like the ones introduced by the present dispensation at Centre had been properly delivered since Independence. Even the much-hyped slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’ of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not yield tangible results as it was a plain political rhetoric.
The MUDRA Yojana has therefore been conceived to fulfill the aspirations of millions of small businessmen, he asserted.
Delivering a political message to the TDP, Mr. Singh said that efforts should be to make BJP the single largest party in A.P. while respecting the coalition dharma as it has the right to become strong. “No BJP worker can afford to miss the opportunity”, he added.
Health Minister Kamineni Srinivasa Rao, BJP State President K. Haribabu, National Executive member Somu Veerraju and party leaders Daggubati Purandeswari and Kanna Lakshminarayana were among those who addressed the gathering.
