Pulled economy out of morass, 'jobless growth' an opposition construct: Modi
New Delhi, July 2: The NDA government in 2014 had got the economy in a much worse condition than expected, so much so that making its details public would have been widely damaging for the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, stressing that his government worked hard to bring the economy back on track bit by bit.
In an interview with the "Swarajya" magazine published on Monday, Modi also debunked the opposition's allegation of "jobless growth", pointing out that if state governments had been claiming of creating lakhs of jobs, how could one say the Centre was creating joblessness.
Asked why his government did not bring out a White Paper on Indian economy in 2014, as was being expected by many, Modi said: "The details about the decay in the Indian economy were unbelievable. It had the potential to cause a crisis all over. In 2014, the industry was leaving India. India was in the Fragile Five. Experts believed that the ‘I' in BRICS would collapse. Public sentiment was that of disappointment and pessimism.
"Now, in the midst of this, imagine a White Paper coming out giving intricate details of the extent of damage. Instead of being a mollifier, it would be a multiplier of the distress."
The Prime Minister said what the new government led by him saw (of the economy's condition) left them "shocked" as things were "terrible" and even the budget figures were "suspicious".
He said there were several "landmines" laid in various sectors and his government accepted this uncomfortable truth and hit the ground running from the very first day to stabilise things so that the Indian economy could be strengthened for the long haul.
Modi said the positive results of government's approach are for everyone to see.
"Today, India is the fastest growing large economy of the world with strong fundamentals to propel further growth. Foreign investment is at an all-time high, GST has revolutionised the tax regime, India is an easier place to do business than ever before and, most importantly, we are seeing unprecedented levels of trust and optimism," he said.
On the lack of jobs -- something that the opposition has been vociferously alleging to corner the government, Modi blamed a "lack of consistency" in the political debate around job creation.
"We have data put out by state governments on employment. For example, the previous Karnataka government claimed to have created 53 lakh jobs. The West Bengal government said it created 68 lakh jobs in the last term.
"Now, if states are all creating a good number of jobs, is it possible that the country is not creating jobs? Is it possible that states are creating jobs but the Centre is creating joblessness?" Modi asked.
He said that more than a lack of jobs, the issue was a lack of data on jobs.
"Our opponents will naturally exploit this opportunity to paint a picture of their choice and blame us...no one has an accurate data on jobs," Modi said.
He said that the traditional matrix of measuring jobs is "simply not good enough to measure new jobs in the new economy of New India".
"For example, there are close to three lakh village-level entrepreneurs who are running Common Service Centres across the country and also creating more employment. Start-ups are working as job multipliers and there are around 15,000 start-ups which the government has helped in some way, and many more will be operational. Aggregators of various kinds employ thousands of youth.
"If we look at numbers for employment, more than 41 lakh formal jobs were created from September 2017 to April 2018 based on EPFO payroll data," Modi said.
The Prime Minister pointed out that job creation in the formal sector could have a "spinoff effect" on job creation in the informal sector too, which constitutes "around 80 per cent of all jobs".
He also reiterated that his government had a "four-pronged strategy" to double farmers' income -- decrease the input costs, ensure proper prices for the produce, ensure minimal harvest and post-harvest losses, and create more avenues for income generation.
"Not only will the farmers get minimum support price of 1.5 times their cost, they also have more avenues to get the right price with the help of e-NAM (the electronic National Agricultural Market, which provides price, production and market information to farmers)," Modi added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
13 lakh litres of 'Rail Neer' supplied to train passengers daily: Government
New Delhi (PTI): Approximately 13 lakh litres of packaged drinking water -- 'Rail Neer' -- are being supplied to train passengers across the railway network daily, the government informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday.
Apprising the Lower House about the Indian Railways' endeavour to provide safe and potable drinking water facilities at all stations, the government also provided zone-wise details of the water vending machines (WVMs) installed there.
"To ensure the quality of drinking water being made available at the railway stations, instructions exist for periodical checking and required corrective action to be taken.
"Regular inspection and maintenance of drinking water facilities is carried out and complaints are attended to promptly," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said while responding to a question raised by BJP MP Anup Sanjay Dhotre seeking to know the supply of drinking water at railway stations across the country
"Complaints regarding deficiency in services, including water supply, are received through various channels such as public complaints, web portals, social media, etc. These complaints are received at various levels, including the Railway Board, zonal railways, division office, etc.," Vaishnaw said.
"The complaints so received are forwarded to the concerned wings of Railways and necessary action is taken to check and address them. As receipt of such complaints and action taken thereon is a continuous and dynamic process, a centralised compendium of these is not maintained," he added.
Providing zone-wise details of water vending machines, the minister said 954 such machines have been installed across railway stations.
"The Indian Railways also provides safe and affordable packaged drinking water bottles -- Rail Neer -- approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in trains and at stations," Vaishnaw said.
"Approximately, 13 lakh litres of Rail Neer are being supplied per day to the travelling passengers in trains and at stations across the Indian Railways network," he added.
