I relish challenges, not afraid of them, says Modi

Jaipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he is not afraid of challenges, rather he relished them. He said that any other weak person would have been terrified at the kind of challenges he has been facing, but he is in the habit of picking and overcoming them.

Mr Modi was addressing a public meeting in Rajasthan’s Udaipur city after inaugurating and laying the foundation stone for several infrastructure projects worth Rs 15,000 crore. He said that his government was committed to complete infrastructure projects in a time bound manner, while taking a dig at the previous government for delaying projects for political motives.

“A small bridge with a project cost of Rs 300 crore took 11 years whereas projects worth Rs 5,600 crore project have been completed in the last three years,” he claimed in reference to the bridge over Chambal River in Kota, which was among many infra projects he inaugurated on Tuesday. “We are here to work and deliver results and therefore we are inaugurating infrastructure projects worth Rs 9,000 crore at once,” he added.

The Prime Minister lashed out at the previous government for leaving the country in a mess, which according to him is the biggest challenge for him. “Some of the projects being inaugurated were pending for years. This affects the economy,” he said while alleging that projects were launched to cash in on politically, without any intention to complete them.

“Making promises during election time for the sake of publicity is well known to the country. This was going on for years. They have left such a mess that one cannot imagine how challenging it been to clear it. Any other person would have been given up, but I have the habit of picking challenges; to challenge the challenges and fight the challenges,” Mr Modi said. “But I am doing it, just as this bridge... We could take political mileage by inaugurating these Rs 15,000 crore-worth projects over many years till the next assembly elections, but this is not our way (of doing things),” he added.

Speaking on the importance of infrastructure, Prime Minister Modi said that roads play a key role in development. “Better roads will help our farmers immensely and also boost tourism,” he said. Tourism is a field which can generate multiple employment opportunities with minimum investment, he explained. On a lighter note, he added, “Tourism will benefit everyone, including a chaiwala.” The Prime Minister also urged Rajasthan to run a 15 day campaign to add micro and small businessmen to connect with GST so that an all-round development takes place. Reiterating benefits of GST, he said that it has helped reducing transport cost and increased the earning of drivers of trucks and tractor trolleys.

“This government works for the poor, we have increased the scope, scale and skills of people,” he concluded.