Drawing a distinction between welfare schemes that benefit the poor and “freebies”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that “revri culture” saddened the average taxpayer.
He was addressing the griha prawesham (housewarming)ceremony for over 4.5 lakh beneficiaries built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).
“Now that I am giving away these four lakh houses, every taxpayer in the country must be thinking that a poor brother in Madhya Pradesh will also get to celebrate Deepavali like her, [the beneficiary] is getting a pakka house due to which his daughter’s life will be improved. But what hurts them the most is the money taken from them being used to distribute revris,” he said.
He added that many such disgruntled taxpayers were writing letters to him expressing concern and “are bracing to rid the country of revri culture”.
“When a taxpayer feels that her money is being spent for the right cause, then she is happy and satisfied and keeps on paying more taxes”, the Prime Minister said adding that, crores of taxpayers in the country have the satisfaction of having done a huge service [to the country] by helping feed millions [through Centre’s free ration scheme that covers a population of 80 crore] during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On July 16, Mr. Modi had used the term “revri culture” for the first time at an event in Uttar Pradesh and warned that the culture of distributing freebies for votes would take the country towards darkness. The remark drew flak from various corners, including Opposition parties who not only questioned the rationale of Mr. Modi’s jibe, but also pointed towards the various “populist” schemes run by the Centre and BJP governments in various States.
Socio economic change in India: Modi
Mr. Modi called PMAY-G a medium for bringing major socio-economic change in the country and called the houses “fortress/citadels (qilas) that helped keep poverty outside. He said that in the past eight years over 3.5 crore such houses had been built in the country.
These are not just structures but have all the facilities – from gas and electric connection to toilets – that people had to struggle for in the past, the Prime Minister said. He further added that construction of houses at such a scale also created employment opportunities.
Attacking past governments for failing to deliver the fundamental necessities such as housing Mr. Modi said such schemes would break the vicious cycle of homelessness that have been passed on from one generation to the other. “With their basic needs having been met, people can focus on areas such as education for children,” he said.
Griha pravesham events were held in several places in Madhya Pradesh, the main one being in Satna which was presided over by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. On the occasion, Mr. Chouhan targeted his predecessor – Congress leader Kamal Nath – for scuttling PMAY G and other such schemes by not contributing the State’s share while Mr. Nath ruled for two years between 2018 and 2020. He also said that in the future, the Madhya Pradesh government will also provide land deeds to those who want to avail of the housing scheme but do not have plots to construct the houses.
