In the past, a video mashup showed how a speech given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was Gujarat Chief Minister turned out to be trolling his own future statements. In his prime ministerial avatar, Modi continues to be a thorn in the side of his own government.
In the 2017 budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that the government’s allocation of Rs 48,000 crore for the MNREGA scheme was the “highest ever”. That figure is already a matter of debate, since activists mentioned that last year’s figure of Rs 38,500 crore (also billed as the “highest ever”) should have actually been Rs 65,000 crore when adjusted to inflation.
But the government’s pride over its allocation is ironic considering what Prime Minister had told the Opposition in the Lok Sabha in 2015 (video above). “Do you think I will put an end to the scheme?” he had said in the Budget Session that year. “My political wisdom does not allow me to do it. This is a living monument of your failure to tackle poverty in 60 years. I will continue with the scheme with music and drums.”
He had at the time denigrated the scheme further by equating it to nothing more than “people being paid to dig the ground”.
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