"Industry running in name of poverty was shut down in 2014": PM Modi

New Delhi [India], February 9 : In a veiled attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the industry that was running in the name of poverty was shut down when he assumed office in 2014.
Addressing the Times Global Business Summit in the national capital, the prime minister said that his government succeeded in tackling the issue of poverty.
"For years, the debates to bring formulas to remove poverty were done in AC rooms. Poor stayed poor, but after 2014 when the son of the poor became PM, the industry that was running in the name of poverty was shut down. I have come here from poverty and therefore I know how to fight against it. Our government ran a campaign to remove poverty and worked in every dimension, which resulted in 25 crore poor people escaping poverty in the last ten years. This shows that the policies and direction of the government are correct," he said.
Speaking about his governance model, the PM said, "Our governance model is moving forward on two streams simultaneously. On the one hand, we are addressing the challenges of the 20th century, which we have inherited, and on the other hand, we are indulging in completing the aspirations of the 21st century. We never considered any work a small one."
He also listed his government's achievements in different sectors.
".... We faced bigger challenges and achieved bigger goals. If our government has built 11 crore toilets, then it has also created new possibilities in the space sector. If our government has given houses to 4 crore poor people, then it has also built more than 10 thousand Atal Tinkering Labs," he added.
He also said that there are many sectors that have witnessed changes in the last 10 years.
"In many sectors, so much work has been done in the last 10 years that has not been done in the last 70 years or 7 decades," he added.
He also alleged that the policies followed by the country in the 10 years before 2014 were actually taking the country down the path of poverty.
"A White Paper regarding this has also been placed in this session of Parliament," PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister said that India is a welfare state, and the government's priority is that the day-to-day life of the common man becomes easy and there is improvement in the quality of his life.
The Prime Minister also took a dig at opposition parties and said, "This is a time when our critics are at an all-time low."
"Today there is discussion in every development expert group about how India has been transformed in the last 10 years. Such positive sentiment for India's capability was never there earlier. Such positive sentiment for India's success was never there. That's why I had said from the Red Fort, this is the time, this is the time," the Prime Minister said.