Som Parkash hails Union Budget as pro-poor

Som Parkash hails Union Budget as pro-poor

JASWANT SINGH GANDAM / RAMAN NEHRA
India Post News Service

PHAGWARA: Hailing Union Budget 2019 as pro-poor and pro-commoners, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash has said that it was the best budget presented July 5 by country’s first woman Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Talking to select reporters here July 6, Parkash said that the Budget was for ‘aam janata’ (masses) and not for ‘raja-maharajas’ (royalties/ rich classes).

“Modi government is government of masses and not rich classes and all the schemes listed in the Budget are meant for the masses”, he remarked.

He then listed various schemes for the commoners, including ‘ghar ghar pani’ (drinking water for every home), Rs 3000 pension scheme, and housing scheme for the homeless.

Taking to task the detractors of government’s target of achieving a $5-trillion economy in the next five years, Parkash dubbed them as prophets of doom whose wont was to turn a blind eye to New India’s forward strides under the dynamic and charismatic leadership on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said that new Budget laid down a roadmap for nearly doubling the size of Indian economy in five years by raising per capita income, boosting consumption and increasing productivity.

To a query about Punjab Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s criticism of the Budget for not mentioning the coming 550th Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak Dev, Parkash said that the Central government has already launched various projects at Sultanpur Lodhi for it and was also opening Kartarpur corridor for facilitating visit of pilgrims to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib where Guru Nanak had spent the last years of his life.

“The nit pickers are habituated to do nitpicking and telling white lies out of their political compulsions,” he quipped while referring to Randhawa’s remarks.

Earlier, Som Parkash launched the BJP’s membership drive on the occasion of 118th birth anniversary of party ideologue Shyama Prasad Mookerjee.

Addressing party workers, Parkash called upon them to enrol more members for further strengthening the party.

“BJP is the largest party in the world with 11 crore members,” he said. “We should leave no stone unturned in making more members of the party as per the wishes of PM Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah for taking it to further heights.”

Parkash’s wife Aneeta Som Parkash, Phagwara corporation Mayor Arun Khosla, party stalwart Rakesh Duggal and other party leaders were also present.