M A I N   N E W S

Modi’s 5-year plan: Turn ‘scam India into skill India’
Ashok Tuteja
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 11
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed his firm resolve to ‘decriminalise’ politics and make India "scam and corruption-free" while appealing to the Opposition parties to put behind them the bitterness of the election campaign and support his government in taking the country on the path of development.

"Our identity in the world must change from 'Scam India' to 'Skill India'," he said while replying to the marathon debate in Parliament on the Motion of Thanks to the President for his address to a joint sitting of the two Houses on Monday.

Looking at the Opposition benches, the PM said, "We may have come to power with a clear mandate but I won't be able to move ahead without your support...you have to guide me in achieving our common objective of taking the country forward."

After Modi’s maiden speech in Hindi lasting about 50 minutes in each House, the two Houses adopted the motion by a voice vote, rejecting amendments moved by some Opposition members.

Observing that the country's image had been tarnished due to corruption and scams, Modi said the people generally have an impression that only people with criminal background go to Parliament. "We have to remove this impression", he said.

He said his government would consider requesting the Supreme Court to expedite the case of any MP against whom an FIR has been lodged. The verdict should be delivered on a priority basis so that the guilty could be punished and there was no stigma attached to someone who was innocent. If this process was initiated, political parties, too, would think twice before giving ticket to any candidate with criminal background.

Talking about the safety of women, the PM regretted that the country’s image had suffered immensely due to rape incidents. Tourism in India had also been affected due to these incidents. Women need to become partners in decision-making and be made to feel secure.

As former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Opposition stalwarts heard him with rapt attention in the Upper House, Modi lambasted the previous UPA regime for meting out "step-motherly" treatment to opposition-ruled states.

"I have had the first hand experience of how the Centre can torpedo the development schemes of the states," he added. Therefore, it would be the endeavour of his government to adopt the model of "cooperative federalism" under which the Centre and the states would work shoulder-to-shoulder for the betterment of the lives of the people.

In a democracy, the government, he said, was answerable to the common man. It was time to strengthen good governance, he said.

Message to Oppn: Put behind bitterness

• The PM appealed to the Opposition to put behind bitterness of the election campaign and support his government
• Said country's image had been tarnished due to corruption and scams
• Women need to become partners in decision-making and be made to feel secure
• It would be the endeavour of his government to adopt the model of "cooperative federalism" under which the Centre and the states would work shoulder-to-shoulder
• Lambasted the previous UPA regime for meting out "step-motherly" treatment to opposition-ruled states