During a visit to the city on Friday, alongwith the local MP General VK Singh, who is also the Minister of State for External Affairs, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said lokpal needs some amendments and hence appointment has been delayed. The visit was aimed at spreading the achievements of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government headed by PM Narendra Modi.
While enumerating the achievements of the Modi Government, the Defence Minister said the Central Government has eradicated all means of corruption and the financial benefits have been streamlined for the weaker sections of society.
When asked if the Central Government was so inclined to eradicate corruption then why the seat of lokpal was lying vacant since enactment of the Bill, the Minister said, “Although the BJP agreed with an effective institution but to deal with the menace of corruption, there was a need to add teeth of the current lokpal Bill. Some amendments were being incorporated into it. It will become a reality once the process is over”.
He further claimed that the weaker sections of society are in the priority of the Union Government. Over 21crore accounts were opened in the banks to empower the weaker sections.
This enabled the Government to transfer Rs63,000 crore in their accounts directly without the intervention of the middlemen. It was a direct benefit the poor masses, Parrikar added.
The embezzlement in the subsidy of over Rs 3 crore gas connections could be stopped by induction of Aadhar card in gas connection. By saving over
Rs20,000 crore from the gas subsidies, over 1.5 crore connection were provided to the poor people. The NDA Government introduced the farmers insurance policy to safeguard their interests. Over 18,000 villages have been provided electricity connections through out the country, he said.
General (retd) VK Singh said that he would clear all the snags including financial ones in the Metro project. He assured the Ghaziabad residents that he was apprised about the funding pattern which was cleared by the State Cabinet but the same has not been complied one pretext or the other. He claimed all the bottlenecks will be removed for the safe passage of the Metro project. The Minister said that he will be meeting the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on 20th June to sort out the financial issues.