Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (File Photo: IANS)
Saharanpur, May 26 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hit out at the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for "looting" public money and claimed that during the two years of his regime there was no charge of corruption.
He also welcomed the minute scrutiny of his work by the opposition and media.
"Before I became the prime minister everyday newspapers and news channels were filled with corruption reports," Modi said addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur town to mark two years of his government at the Centre, adding, "I was shocked to find out the previous government had looted every bit of public money."
"Do people come to power to loot pubic funds? Don't know where the last government spent its money," he questioned.
He further said that during the two years of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government there has been no case of graft and his government is accountable for every single penny.
"I took the pains to end corruption in this country. There has been no case of corruption against our government so far. Even our opponents could not point fingers at us," Modi said.
Modi's speech to mark two years of his government was mainly focused on farmers and the poor.
"Our work is being minutely scrutinised. If my government does something wrong, it runs on TV for 24 hours. I welcome this close scrutiny of my work. The government should be held accountable for every day, every penny," he said.
Taking a pot shot at the previous government for its slow pace of development, Modi said: "During UPA government, many announcements were made but nothing happened at ground level. But under my government the pace of road construction has doubled."
"We are committed to connect all the villages in the country by a network of concrete roads," he said.
He also vowed to electrify all the villages and said, "It is shameful for me that even after around 70 years of independence thousands of villages in our country don't have electricity. I take pride in saying that in the last two years 6,000 villages have got electricity. And by 2022, when we would celebrate our 75th year of Independence, all the villages of the country would be electrified."
Modi also announced to increase the retirement age of doctors and said, "As we are facing a huge shortage of doctors in the country, our government is working on a plan to extend the retirement age of the doctors to 65 years."
"The cabinet will soon approve a bill to increase the retirement age of government doctors from 60 to 65 years," he added.
Modi said it will help doctors serve the nation till the time more new doctors join the profession.
The prime minister requested the doctors to offer free health services to pregnant women on the ninth of every month.
"Earlier also, I had requested the doctors and today again I request them to provide free health services to pregnant women on the ninth of every month," Modi said.
"This free health service for 12 days in a year will ensure that no mother bears the pain of poverty."
"As I have said from the ramparts of Red Fort that I am not a prime minister, but a pradhan sewak of the 1.25 billion people of India, so I work non-stop to fulfil the aspirations of the poor and marginalised people of society," he said.
"In the last two years I have tried my best to make the states more powerful so that it can work for the upliftment of the poor and marginalised," he added.
The prime minister also listed the flagship schemes and policies of his government.
