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  India   Beti Bachao, immunisation schemes focus at govt's 2nd anniversary

Beti Bachao, immunisation schemes focus at govt's 2nd anniversary

: AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : May 28, 2016, 11:55 pm IST
Updated : May 28, 2016, 11:55 pm IST

Various schemes and programmes, particularly Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India and Rural Electrification, will be highlighted.

(Photo: PTI)
 (Photo: PTI)

Various schemes and programmes, particularly Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India and Rural Electrification, will be highlighted.

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government is all set to showcase its 'achievements' over the past two years when it kicks off second anniversary celebrations at India Gate in the national capital on Saturday evening.

Various schemes and programmes, particularly Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India and Rural Electrification, will be highlighted during the show.

The government had formed a panel of ministers, headed by Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and comprising Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, to supervise preparations for the show.

BJP has also planned to hold over 200 events across the country between May 26 and June 10 to highlight the government's "successes".

A controversy over Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s participation in the show had led to much political wrangling. Amitabh, whose name has figured in the Panama Papers, was rumoured to host the show. This had brought about a storm of protest from Opposition parties, especially the Congress. However, Bachchan had later clarified that he would merely be hosting a small segment regarding the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign during the programme.

The Congress though has attacked the Modi government on its 2nd anniversary celebrations, questioning the rationale behind it. According to Congress leader Anil K Shastri, the Modi government had not fulfilled ‘any of its promises’ in its 2-year tenure. He said the most laughable promise of Modi was with regard to bringing back black money and depositing Rs 15 lakh each in the bank accounts of every citizen.

"We would like to challenge this government for a debate at any time and any place of their choosing on the 2 years of NDA-BJP Government", Congress spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters targeting the government over its record in governance.

Taking a jibe at BJP chief Amit Shah over his claims that there were no allegations of corruption in the last two years, he said that under the Modi regime, several scams have taken place and the Government has hardly taken any concrete steps to deal with them." Tewari also claimed that the economy ‘was in a big mess’.

5:05 pm: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the NDA government has initiated several steps to curb black money in the economy. "The government launched a massive crackdown on parallel economies," said Jaitley. He said that 22 crore bank accounts had been opened in the last year itself.

5:20 pm: Amitabh Bachchan is on stage to speak about the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' scheme.

"Please don't think of women as the weaker gender. If we are talking about inner-strength, then they are far stronger than men," says Amitabh Bachchan at the mega event. He adds that growth is intrinsically connected to the development of women.

He interacts with underprivileged girl children who ask him a number of questions. "There is nothing called Big B. You just need to work hard and keep yourself focused," says Amitabh to a student.

5:40 pm: Maneka Gandhi, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Health Minister JP Nadda, Raveena Tandon others on stage now to talk about government initiatives for women and children.

JP Nadda said 1 crore 62 lakh children have been provided immunization in the last one year. He says some new vaccines like rotavirus have also been introduced.

11 lakh children saved in February, 13 lakh children in March with the government initiatives, says Maneka Gandhi. She says a national portal for lost and found children has been launched. 6:05 pm: A dance performance from Karnal in Haryana is organised on educating the girl child. Legislator Harvinder Kalyan speaks about the impact of government's schemes on Haryana, says lot of change is happening.

Madhavan, Raveena Tandon speak on empowerment of women. "I think the empowerment of women is a lot about conditioning. I think mothers can play a great role in this kind of upbringing," says Madhavan. Raveena Tandon says she helped an orphanage of 30 children and caregivers who were thrown to the streets by their landlord.

Attacking UPA's retrospective tax, he said the move had been unpredictable and people wanted predictability in business. Jaitley claimed that the India had been growing much faster compared to the world, but it was difficult to maintain growth when the rest of the world was performing poorly.

(This story originally appeared on Deccan Chronicle)