Mann Ki Baat: Modi says government will act against benami property

NCP on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio address “Mann ki Baat” should be stopped as he has “failed” to keep his words and people have “lost faith” in his promises.

Acknowledging that the demonetisation has caused great hardships to wage workers, Prime Minister Modi asked them to open their bank accounts so that they can also avail digital banking facilities.

Notably, the PM also warned people who deposit illegal money into the accounts of poor people and asked not to play with lives of the poor. BJP leader Shaina NC told ANI, “I don’t think we need to be apologetic about Prime Minister’s Mann Ki Baat even if it is Modi ji ki baat then the public of this country stands in solidarity in this fight against dishonesty”.

“When I wanted suggestions from people ahead of this Mann Ki Baat session, a lot of them wanted me to speak about the Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes ban in detail. It will take sometime to overcome the problems”, Modi said. “The government is working to end the flow of black money and corruption but they (opposition) are talking about Bharat Bandh. A very tough anti-benami transactions law is now in place to take care of it”, he said. And are looking at unlawful ways.

PM Modi said “our dream is for a cashless society”. But, please do not make poor people suffer for your sins.

PM Modi pointed out several steps taken by the Union Government for benefiting the farmers. But India can definitely move towards a less-cash society. “We can gradually move from a less-cash society to a cashless society”. Educate them on how to download apps, how to spend money using mobile phones, how to make payments.

“This is a hard decision but a very important decision for the country”.

Such drives should be carried out in schools, colleges, NCC and NSS, he said, adding that the youths are agents of change.

Though the Prime Minister had spoken on the issue during his announcement, he said that he had received a number of suggestions to talk about the decision at length in the radio programme.