Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday slammed the previous Congress government at the Centre for corruption, saying its rule reminds of scams. While under Prime Minster Narendra Modi, not even a single penny from the funds given by the Centre is being siphoned off, he claimed addressing a gathering here.
"Whenever we think of 2G, 3G and 4G, we are reminded of scams of the Congress government," Rajnath said as he credited Prime Minister Modi with the elimination of corruption. Mentioning former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Rajnath said he doesn’t want to criticise him but the leader had once said that of the 100 paise sent by the government, only 15 paise reach people.
"Now, we can say that if 100 paise are sent from Delhi for the last person in society, not a single paise falls prey to corruption," claimed the minister, who inaugurated and laid the foundation of 161 projects worth Rs 187.48 crore here.
"Till the time we have Modiji as our prime minister, nobody can attempt to indulge in a scam," he added. This "magic" has been brought about by the prime minister, who has brought a change in the system, Rajnath said.
The defence minister also claimed that India's reputation at the global level has increased under the leadership of PM Modi. "I had an opportunity to visit the most developed country--the USA--a number of times. As per information received from them, my chest swells (with pride) that the perception of India has changed," he said.
"Earlier, when India used to speak at the international platform, India's point of view was not taken seriously. There was a perception that India is a big country from the point of view of population but was weak from the economy's point of view," he said.
"But today the perception has changed completely. When India speaks at the international platform, people listen to it with attention," he added. Rajnath said while other countries could not come out of the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, India not only overcame the crisis but also emerged as the fastest growing economy.
There are 300 defence equipment, which will now be made in India, he said. "India is no longer a weak India, and it has become a strong India. I would like to remind you that when some terrorists from Pakistan had attacked our forces, our prime minister displayed strong willpower and India conducted surgical strikes and air strikes on Pakistani soil," he said.
Referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Rajnath said, "Our government is the one, which not only thinks about those living in India but also about its citizens who live in other countries." He said around 13,000 students were stranded in Ukraine when the conflict started but PM Modi spoke to presidents of both warring countries and brought back the students to India.
(With PTI Inputs)
