Casteism hinders growth, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that nepotism and casteism can never lead to the development of Uttar Pradesh. In a veiled attack on the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Prime Minister said that if India has to progress, the development of east and west must be done in a balanced manner. He said it was unfortunate that eastern UP remained backward.

“You do not need those who play politics of casteism and nepotism. You have filled everyone’s pocket, but your pocket is yet to be filled,” he said at a public meeting in Gorakhpur on Friday.

Mr Modi, who laid the foundation stone for an All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) facility in Gorakhpur and also presided over the revival of a fertiliser plant that had been shut since 1991, said there was a severe lack of medical facilities in eastern UP.

Earlier, while unveiling the statue of Mahant Avaidyanath at the Goraksh temple, the PM said that seers and various religious orders can play a major role in making India modern and prosperous.

“It is the demand of time that lakhs of saints, thousands of orders and hundreds of maths (monastic establishments) can play a critical role in making India modern and prosperous, in cultivating good values among its people,” he said.

Mr Modi said all the systems in the country have undergone timely changes and so have the saint and seers who are now involving themselves in social activities.