Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken U-turn on several promises during the last three years, and only renamed flagship schemes of the UPA government to take credit.
Noting 30 major failures on various fronts, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the Modi government had taken U-turn on Aadhaar, black money, Lokpal, Goods and Services Act, and on providing jobs to two crore unemployed youths a year. The tall promises of “Achhe din” had turned nightmare for people of the country, he said.
The Modi government, which completed three years in office on Friday, only renamed the UPA government’s schemes such as Indira Awaas Yojana as Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana, Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, JNNURM as AMRUT, Planning Commission as NITI Aayog, e-governance programme as Digital India, and financial inclusion as Jan Dhan Yojana. It had done nothing for the betterment of the people, he alleged. “Neither the Centre nor States had benefited from changing names of the flagship schemes,” he said.
The Centre has cut 30% to 40% of its share on all centrally sponsored schemes, Mr. Siddaramaiah claimed.
AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, K.C. Venugopal, alleged that the Modi government was known for slogans and catch phrases such as “Make in India”, “Start-up India”, “Skill India”, “Digital India”, and “Smart Cities”. “These are farce and only on paper. All these schemes remained a hollow initiative and government has failed to address the challenges of global competitiveness,” he said.
Mr. Venugopal said 35 farmers are driven to suicide daily in the country. “The government had written off around ₹1,54,000 crore loans of a few crony businessmen friends, but there was no relief for farmers he said, adding that there was a big “scam” in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan as constructed toilets had already vanished. The Congress would ready to provide evidences if the Centre institute a probe into the scam, he said.
On unemployment
On job growth, he said most rating agencies had predicted 40% job loss in the IT sector. Unemployment was at a five-year high and underemployment was at a staggering 35% in the country, Mr. Venugopal said.
There was growing intolerance across the country and NCRB data said that atrocities against Dalits had increased by 38% under the BJP government, Mr. Siddaramaiah said. The Modi government had failed to establish a Lokpal institution to crack down on corruption. The government had misled President Pranab Mukherjee and the Supreme Court on the matter, Mr. Venugopal alleged.
