Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JS)

Mangaluru, May 28: Union minister for environment and forests Prakash Javadekar on Thursday May 28 said that the biggest achievement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in the last one year was that it has succeeded in winning the trust of the poor.

Addressing a press meet at hotel Ocean Pearl during his visit to the city, Javadekar said, "I have already visited Coimbatore, Palakkad, Manapurram, Kozhikode and Kasargod as part of BJP's Maha Sampark Abhiyan, and in the next two days I have four meetings in Maharashtra.

"The Modi-led government's biggest achievement in the past one year is that we have been able to win the trust of the poor. Ours is the only non-Congress party which has won the maximum number of states. Ours is the only party that has come to power at the centre with absolute majority since 1984 (when Congress had won).

"The only request that poor people make is provision of good education for their children in good institutions. We have done this, and it has transformed into a victory for us. People queue up in BJP rallies and wherever Modi goes because they have faith in the PM," Javadekar added.

Listing out some of the schemes introduced by the NDA government, he said, "We have started Jan Dhan Yojana and schemes like Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, through which, for the first time in India the poor have got social security. Eight crore people from poor families have already registered for social security schemes and paid the premium also. Modi government has implemented direct banking transfer of LPG subsidy and we have asked well-to-do people not to take subsidy. Already five lac people have given up LPG subsidies, and now we are sending SMS thanking them for doing so.

"Modi government is the first to involve public participation in governance. We are also planning four crore rural housing and two crore urban housing for the poor. By 2022 this project will be complete. This is for the first time in the whole world that any nation has taken up such a huge project. We are creating permanent housing for the poor," he added.

"Everything that was a scam during the UPA regime has turned into a success story now. One-fifth of the coal is auctioned, and the money has gone into the government's treasury and not into any politician's pocket. We will utilize this money for the development of the states. Spectrum has been distributed in the right way. The current market price of cement is Rs 350 per sack. We have signed MoUs with major cement companies and they have agreed to give cement for half the price for public work," he informed.

Regarding his environment ministry, he said, "The environment ministry was earlier termed as a 'roadblock' or 'speed breaker' ministry. Now this ministry has been utilized in the right way and brought back on track. The main aim of my ministry is protection of environment. We have not discriminated between states and already 100 projects of Karnataka have been sanctioned. The ministry has come up with biomedical waste rules, hazardous waste rules and rules for environmental waste. The ministry has been made transparent in its functioning."

When reporters asked about the meeting between former PM Manmohan Singh and PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday May 27, Javadekar said, "This is a democracy and we take suggestions from everyone, be it the ruling party or the opposition. This is the beauty of democracy. I am sure GST and land acquisition bills will be passed in the monsoon session."

To a question on buffer zone, he said, "We have 600 protected areas in the country and there was a need for development to be regulated. Development is essential but so also protection of environment. In the past ten years, the buffer zone was untouched and the court had to intervene and now we are doing the needful."

On the much-debated Kasturirangan report, he said, "The Western Ghats has natural beauty and we need to protect it. We have planned to visit each and every village. There are about 7,000 villages and we will ask the villagers what kind of development they do not want. We have asked all the states under coming under this to submit reports, and once they give their reports, we will do the needful by the year end."

Asked to comment on the controversial statement regarding beef ban by his party colleague Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, he said, I do not want to complicate the issue. Food is a personal choice. In most of the states beef is banned and as food is a personal choice, I dont want to comment on it."

On Bengaluru lake pollution issue, he said, "Bengaluru is a beautiful city filled with lakes. I think the reason for foamy water (in Varthur lake) is that buildings have given sewage connection to lakes. My ministry is forming rules and we will given directions to every municipalty not to permit sewage connections to lakes."

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, former MLC Monappa Bhandary, BJP district president Pratap Simha Nayak, Ganesh S Rao, and others were present.