Gandhinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said his government does not look at the religion or caste of beneficiaries when reaching out to them with development schemes, and true secularism exists where there is no discrimination.
He was speaking after inaugurating or laying foundation stones of various projects at a programme at Mahatma Mandir here.
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) has become an instrument for women’s empowerment as out of some four crore houses built under the scheme in nine years, 70 percent are owned by women, he noted.
“We are trying to achieve hundred percent saturation of (government) schemes…the government itself is reaching out to (potential) beneficiaries of a scheme. This approach has ended corruption to a great extent. The government does not look at the religion or caste while reaching out to a beneficiary,” Modi said.
“I believe that true secularism is where there is no discrimination at all. For those who talk about social justice…I think there is no greater social justice than working for the happiness and convenience of all, working for their rights. This is the path on which we are walking,” the prime minister said while addressing the gathering.
Among other projects, he laid the foundations stones or participated in ‘gruh pravesh’ (house warming) ceremony for 42,441 houses built or to be built in Gujarat under the PMAY.
India cannot transform its destiny and become a developed country by continuing with failed policies, he asserted.
Targeting the previous non-BJP governments, Modi said there was a time when people were deprived of even basic facilities, and after waiting for several years, they began to believe that this was their fate.
A house is not just a roof over one’s head but a place of faith where dreams take shape and the present and future of a family are decided, he said.
Houses that are being constructed under the PMAY now are a package of multiple schemes, the prime minister said.
Beneficiaries can now decide themselves the type of house they want to be built under the PMAY, Modi noted.
Earlier, corruption ate into the funds meant for housing for the poor, and the houses constructed under government schemes were not worth living in, he said.
The PMAY has also given a boost to women empowerment, the prime minister said.
PTI

Press Trust of India