Business
Coal scam much bigger than thought: PM
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Monday said the coal blocks allocation scam during the
previous UPA government was much bigger than the figure of Rs.1.76 lakh
crore pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in his
report.
Addressing a martyrs' rally after paying homage to Bhagat
Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev at their memorial in Hussainiwala in
Punjab's frontier district of Ferozepur, the prime minister made a
direct attack on the then Congress-led government over the coal scam.
"The
coal scam was thought to be Rs.1.76 lakh crore as per the CAG report.
Some people said the amount was exaggerated. It has turned out to be
much bigger than that figure. Only 20 coal blocks out of 204 have been
auctioned by our government so far and over Rs.2 lakh crore has already
been collected. Rest of the coal blocks are yet to be auctioned. Imagine
how much more money will come for the development of the country," Modi
said.
"Corruption has ruined our country," he lamented, adding
that martyrs like Bhagat Singh had not sacrificed their lives to see the
country in this condition.
Highlighting another scandal related
to the purchase of LED bulbs by the UPA government, Modi said: "The
previous government bought LED bulbs at Rs.300 per bulb in 2014. We have
bought the same for Rs.80 apiece. There was rampant corruption
everywhere."
Modi assured farmers that the central and state
governments would do everything to help them at a time when untimely
rains have damaged crops extensively.
He said the central government has come up with various schemes for the benefit of farmers.
"Farmers
want jobs for at least one of their children. We don't want that
children of farmers languish in slums in Delhi and Mumbai," he said.
Modi told farmers, particularly in Punjab, not to over-use fertilizers for greater crop output.
"Farmers
are doing things like using chemical fertilizers for more output. This
is wrong. We are ruining our land and crops by using so much
fertilizers. India lives on the foodgrains provided by the hard working
farmers of Punjab," Modi said, adding that Punjab should lead the way
in arresting the misuse of fertilizers.
Modi arrived here on
Monday afternoon and paid homage to freedom struggle martyrs Bhagat
Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. The prime minister placed a wreath at the
martyrs' memorial and bowed with folded hands.
"It is an
inspiring moment for me to come to this land of martyrs," said Modi,
sporting a yellow turban, symbolic of martyr Bhagat Singh.
Modi pointed out that the British were scared of Bhagat Singh.
"The
British were so scared of Bhagat Singh that they advanced his hanging
by one day in violation of all norms. They hanged him secretly (in
Lahore jail) and did not even hand over his body to his family," he
said.
"The British committed the sin of burning his body after
pouring kerosene on it and using waste material collected from this
place. I am proud to have come to this holy land," he said.
"Bhagat
Singh's name still inspires youth to sacrifice their life for the
country. We need to make our country as per the dreams of our martyrs.
We need to clean our country," Modi said.
The prime minister said Punjab made the maximum contribution to the freedom movement.
This was Modi's first visit to Punjab after becoming prime minister in May last year.
He
is the second prime minister to visit the Hussainiwala memorial, the
place where the three martyrs were cremated after being hanged on March
23, 1931 by the British authorities in Lahore.
Then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had come to the same memorial on March 23, 1985, to pay homage to the martyrs.
The Hussainiwala memorial is located just a few metres from the India-Pakistan border.