PM Narendra Modi taking steps for quick eradication of poverty: MJ Akbar

BHOPAL: Union minister MJ Akbar today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was making every effort to quickly eradicate poverty from the country, instead of dealing the problem slowly.

The Minister of State for External Affairs also said that the work that was not done in the last 70 years, was now visible in 70 months (due to Modi government's works).

"The prime minister believes that poverty should be rooted out and the problem should not be tackled slowly. The central government has been providing direct benefits to the poor by removing all the middlemen and other channels," Akbar said.

He was addressing a gathering at Kajlikheda village on the outskirts of Bhopal, where he dedicated a community hall to the people.

The minister said efforts were being made to bring prosperity into the lives of people.

"After the terrorist attack ahead of the Lok Sabha elections at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, the prime minister had said that Hindus and Muslims need to decide against whom they should fight. He had said that it is poverty that they need to fight collectively," he added.

Referring to the recent naxal attack in Sukma in Chhattisgarh, in which 25 CRPF jawans were killed, Akbar said, "We Indians are united and our main enemy is terrorism. What happened in Sukma, they do not bring in religion, but they have their own colours. They are enemy of the society."

Akbar added that 60 per cent of beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) were women.

"A woman thinks about her family, her children and entire society. Progress of a woman means progress of next 50 years. But I can't make such a statement confidently about a man," he quipped.