Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, took a dig at former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who once said if the Centre releases Re 1, only 15 paise reach the poor, saying if the Centre government of today releases Re 1, “the entire 100 paise reach the house of the poor."
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The prime minister was addressing a public gathering at Jujwa village in Gujarat's Valsad town after witnessing the collective 'e-gruha pravesh' (online house warming) of the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin). More than one lakh houses have been built in the state under the Centre's flagship scheme.
PM Modi further said in his government, there is no system of paying 'commission'. He said nobody had to pay any bribe to avail benefits under the Centre's housing scheme as his government has eliminated middlemen.
"While talking to women beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, I was watching the houses behind them. Even you would be wondering how such good quality houses were built under the scheme," Modi said after his interaction with a few of the beneficiaries in various districts of Gujarat through video conferencing.
"This was made possible because there is no place for the system of paying commission in my government. If one rupee goes from Delhi, the entire 100 paise reach the house of the poor," he said.
Claiming that his government has the “guts,” the prime minister said he can ask the women beneficiaries if they had to pay any bribe or commission to get the houses, when the entire country is watching. "In reply, the mothers and sisters could say with satisfaction that they got the houses according to rules and they did not have to pay a single rupee bribe," he said.
He said the government has given money, but along with it, these homes have been built with the "sweat of the family". The prime minister further said so far, people have heard about only politicians getting their own residence, but now we are hearing about the poor getting their own homes.
"The family decided how will the house be, what material will be used and how will it be made. We did not believe in contractors but the family. When a family makes its own home, it makes it the best," Modi said.
Calling women of Gujarat his sisters, the prime minister said it gives him immense satisfaction to gift houses to one lakh families when the festival of Raksha Bandhan is around the corner.
The prime minister further said his dream is to ensure that every family owns their own house by 2022 when the nation will celebrate 75 years of independence. “It is my dream, it is our endeavour to ensure that every Indian family has its own home by 2022," Modi said.
The prime minister will inaugurate various projects, including a newly-built hospital of the Gujarat Medical and Education Research Society and two fisheries colleges at Veraval town in the Gir Somnath district. He would also address a public meeting at the Police Training College ground near Junagadh.
(With PTI inputs)