Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi has appealed to the people of the country to adopt frugality. I would say that PM Modi’s advice to the people of the country is one of the best. We should all heed that advice. Everyone means everyone—the prime minister himself, his cabinet members. Chief Ministers, other ministers and bureaucrats in states where the BJP government is in power, including Assam. Adani and Ambani are also friends of the Prime Minister. Most importantly, it should start with the Prime Minister himself. As the saying goes, ‘Example is better than precept. Will this apply to our Prime Minister Modi or not? If that is done, the austerity should be initiated first through PM Modi.
But what do we actually see? What have we seen since the beginning of Modiraj? Remember that two Boeing 777-300ER aircraft were built in the US for the visit of the President, Vice President and Prime Minister in 2020? How much did it cost? Around Rs 8,400-8,458 crore. Till the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and even Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister did not have a special plane for traveling abroad. They used commercial aircraft or sometimes Indian Air Force aircraft.
Let me mention one thing here. The year was 1997, and Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa, ending apartheid. Gopal Krishna Gandhi was then the High Commissioner of India in South Africa. He narrates an incident—the five-time Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Bose, visited South Africa. He got off the plane at Johannesburg airport with his wife and a small group of other economy class passengers. So the government party waiting to welcome him with bouquets of flowers did not recognize him at first. He also once.
Then comes the issue of Modi’s residence. Do you know how much it cost to build the Prime Minister’s residence during the recent renovation of Delhi? 467 crores. There are also some other costs which are confidential because we don’t know exactly. Now let’s come to the foreign visit of the Prime Minister. Prime Minister who has traveled abroad the most since independence is Shri Narendra Modi. He has visited 79 countries and a total of 100 overseas since 2014. We don’t have exact information but the cost is estimated at Rs 700 to 800 crores.
This is Modi’s expense. And have you seen it? How many cars are used during the visit of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat? A video is going viral, see—more than 30 gigantic cars Do you know how much our Himanta Biswa Sharma has spent on helicopter rides in the last five years? Around Rs 60 Crores. How much money does the BJP spend to buy voters’ votes before every election? In Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Assam, how many thousands, lakhs of rupees have they spent? How many banners and hoardings are put up on the road to welcome a foreign minister when he comes to Assam? And how many crores of rupees have been spent on Bihu, Jumur or Bagurumba? It should be noted that how much money was spent on Himanta Biswa Sharma’s swearing-in ceremony today? How many chartered flights have arrived in Assam? Forty or how many?
Where will Modi go with this tough message from May 15? in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy. The cost is estimated at Rs 80 crore. Most importantly, the Prime Minister has asked students to take classes online. We fed our students with online classes during the pandemic. The condition of our country is so bad that today we cannot send our children to school! We don’t need such ‘good days’. Finally again, sir, example is better than precept.
post Austerity should start with Prime Minister Modi first appeared first Northeast Now (Assamese).
