Lucknow, January 19 (IANS). Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader Pramod Tiwari on Monday reacted to Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Rae Bareli, the country’s defense policy, the recent terrorist encounter in Jammu and Kashmir, and the change in the name of the MNREGA scheme.
Pramod Tiwari told IANS that Rahul Gandhi will reach Lucknow airport today and from there will go on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli. During this, he will meet local people and workers, listen to the problems of the area and review the development works.
He said that Rahul Gandhi always makes time for his constituency and performs his duties as an MP.
Speaking on defense matters, Tiwari referred to the statement of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, in which he had talked about a self-reliant defense sector. Tiwari said that earlier the country’s defense sector was mainly limited to the public sector, but now the participation of the private sector has increased.
He alleged that the government talks about challenges without naming China and Pakistan, whereas China is responsible for the Galwan incident. The tradition of strengthening the country’s army has been followed by all the Prime Ministers from Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Expressing concern over the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Tiwari said that in the first major terrorist encounter this year, eight Indian Army soldiers have been injured, out of which three were airlifted by helicopter.
Describing it as extremely shameful, he said that the Prime Minister earlier used to claim that demonetisation would end terrorism, but even today attacks are taking place in areas like Pahalgam.
Pramod Tiwari raised the question that when soldiers are not safe, how will common citizens and tourists be safe. He demanded strengthening of security arrangements in Kashmir Valley.
Speaking on the change in the name of MNREGA scheme, Tiwari supported Rahul Gandhi’s statement. He said that the rights of workers are being taken away and this is against labor laws. Changing the name of MNREGA shows the ‘anti-Gandhi thinking’ of BJP. Earlier, under guarantees like ‘Right to Work’ and ‘Right to Wages’, work worth more than crores of rupees was done, which benefited lakhs of workers. Landless laborers and the needy have been cheated by the new scheme.
On the case of death of a 27-year-old youth after falling into a pit in Noida, Tiwari called it a failure of the government and Noida Authority. He said that signs were removed from the road, complaints about potholes had already been made, yet no action was taken. The young man kept screaming for help, calling his father, but the system could not save him.
–IANS
VKU/ABM
