Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of blocking all routes to employment for the poor. He alleged that the Prime Minister was only favouring a select few people and had handed over the entire wealth and resources to them.
Addressing a largely attended public rally on the fifty-first day of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra here today, Gandhi said, the caste census committed by him to be held after the formation of the INDIA government at the centre will prove to be a revolutionary step in providing social and economic justice to the people of the country.
He said that the Congress party had set up a massive infrastructure and network under the public sector. He pointed out, there were huge industries in the public sector, which provided tens of thousands of jobs. But, he added, Modi handed over these to his select few personal friends thus blocking all routes of employment for the poor and the needy.
Similarly, Gandhi said, joining the defence services was not only a source of employment, but also helped the youth to realise their dream of serving the country. He said, with the introduction of the Agnipath scheme, now the youth, if they join the services, will be sent back just after four years. Besides, he added, they will not get any benefits after retirement. He said, even if they lay down their lives in the service of the country, they will neither be granted martyr status, nor will their families be entitled to any such benefits.
Reiterating his charge against the Prime Minister that he was serving only the interest of his select few billionaire friends, Gandhi pointed out, he (the Prime Minister) had waived off Rs 16 lakh crore debt of a few big billionaires and industrialists. He said, this same amount would have helped to fund the MGNREGA scheme for 20-25 years generating employment for crores of poor people in the country. But, he remarked, Prime Minister Modi does not care or bother about the poor.
Asserting that the caste census will be a revolutionary step in providing social and economic justice in the country, the former Congress president said, it will be followed up with the economic survey. He said, this will not only reveal the actual number of people belonging to different castes and groups like the backwards, the Dalits, the Adivasis, the minorities and the poor among the general castes, it will also show who controls how much resources.
He said, while the backwards, the Dalits, the Adivasis, the minorities and the poor from the general castes constitute about 90 percent of the country’s population, their participation and representation in the decision making process and their control over country’s wealth and resources was almost nil. He said, this injustice can be corrected only after the complete social and economic x-ray of the country through caste census.
Senior Congress leader and former MP Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, PCC president Jitu Patwari and a number of senior leaders were present on the occasion.
