TIL Desk/World/Doha-Taking a dig at his detractors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he was facing “problems” just because he had cracked down on graft and deprived the “sweets” to several people as he vowed to rid the country of the “termite” of corruption. Addressing the Indian diaspora here just before winding up his two-day visit, Modi said due to his government’s efforts to clean the system, Rs 36,000 crore have been saved annually by stopping leakages and theft in government schemes.
“We have only cleaned up the surface (on corruption) and a detailed clean-up remains,” he said. “Can you imagine? We have saved Rs 36,000 crore per year by stopping leakage and theft in various government schemes,” he said. Modi said 1.62 crore fake ration cards have been detected and crores saved through subsidised wheat, rice, kerosene and LPG. He said by stopping leakages and ensuring financial discipline and efficiency in governance, India is “moving fast” and growing at the high rate of 7.9 per cent despite two consecutive years of drought and an economic downturn globally.
“Corruption has made our country hollow, eating into its vitals like termite,” Modi said in his 25-minute speech, which saw the diaspora repeatedly raising slogans praising him. Taking a swipe at his detractors, he likened criticism of the government’s action to a child getting angry on being deprived of a sweet by his mother. “Like at home, some child wants to eat sweets and his mother hides those from him…When the mother stops the child’s access to the sweets, the child gets upset with her, howsoever, good she might be.
I, too, have stopped sweets to several people. I will also face problems. But I can face these problems because of love from you people, from 125 crore Indians,” he told the gathering. Noting that India-Qatar relations were growing, with the Indians settled here contributing significantly, he said, “When rulers of any country praise Indians, you can imagine how my chest swells with pride.
