'Congress has no right to criticise government'

Bhubaneswar, May 24: Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the Congress has no moral right to criticise the Centre, which has successfully provided a corruption-free government to the country in the past one year. Addressing media persons at the Bharatiya Jata Party state office here in Odisha at an event organised to mark one year of the rendra Modi government, Sitharaman said it has wiped out corruption at all levels and the process would be sustained for the next four years. She said there was a scam almost every day during UPA-II. The Congress party is levelling baseless allegations without any substance, and should perform the function of a constructive opposition and not that of a speed-breaker, said the minister. She added that the opposition is creating unnecessary hurdles to the passage of important bills because of their numbers in the Rajya Sabha.

Taking a dig at the “suit-boot-ki-sarkar” jibe, Sitharaman said the union government has successfully launched a number of pro-people and pro-poor schemes for the benefit of people in the country. Over 7.5 crore people have already come under two insurance schemes and the Atal pension scheme launched by the government.

Sitharaman said the government has brought transparency in coal block auction, which has already fetched Rs.2 lakh crore from the allocation of 20 coal blocks. On the future of the proposed Posco steel plant near Paradip in Odisha, she said it is up to the state government to decide whether they want the plant. “It is the state government that has to decide whether they want the plant or not,” Sitharaman said. She rejected the Odisha government allegation that the state got a raw deal in the 14th Fince Commission awards.

“The state is set to get Rs.1,12,677 crore in the next five years as per the recommendations of the Fince Commission. It will get Rs.8,251 crore more this year alone.” “The commission gave its recommendations after consulting all state governments, including Odisha,” said the union minister. She said Odisha would obtain about Rs.2 lakh crore from e-auction of minerals in the next 20 years.  (IANS)