Making a powerful reply in Parliament to the debate on the President’s address to a joint session on his government’s agenda, Mr Modi spelled out his priorities, chief among them fighting poverty and empowering villages, with an emphasis on education.
“Rich people can afford to send their kids to good school, afford good medical care…The government’s work is to listen to the poor, to work for the poor and live for them,” Mr Modi said, stressing that education was the most powerful weapon against poverty.
He began by asking to be excused if he made a mistake. “When a new member like me is speaking, I hope you will forgive me if I make mistakes,” he said, and made it clear that he is here to work to a plan and not “to criticize any government.”
The PM noted that various questions were raised by speakers from political parties on important issues during the debate and said, “all of them had a hope in them. I take this as good sign.”
Elected members on either side of the political divide, Mr Modi said, are the custodians of the people’s hope.
He congratulated the people of India for electing a stable government, saying. “It is time to present India as a strong nation.”
Replying to a debate on the President’s speech, Modi said the speech was sacred and the government would try its best to fulfill the promises made.
Addressing the Parliament, Modi said his government was sincerely committed to bringing down prices and that it was their collective responsibility to ensure nobody sleeps hungry.
He laid stress on government being pro-poor and working toward eliminating of poverty in the country.
We will empower the poor to enable them to fight poverty and come out of it, Modi said while addressing the Lok Sabha.
He also pointed out the need for rural infrastructure and agriculture to eliminate poverty and control price rise in the country.
Country needs real-time data on agri products to deal with price rise, he said.
On the President’s speech, he said it was sacred and that the government will leave no stone unturned in implementing roadmap outlined by the President in his address.