Previous govts drafted Budget with eye on vote bank: PM

Gorakhpur (UP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the previous governments drafted the Union budgets with an eye on their vote banks and made them just a medium for making promises they could not fulfil.

For decades in our country, the meaning of the Budget was restricted to what announcements were made in whose name. The Budget was turned into an account of the vote bank, Modi said.

The prime minister was launching a year-long commemoration of the centenary of Chauri Chaura incident, an outbreak of violence that forced Mahatma Gandhi to call off his non-cooperation movement against the British.

Paying tributes to the 19 people who were sent to the gallows for burning down a police station and killing 23 policemen, Modi said the Chauri Chaura martyrs had not got the place in history that they deserved.

In an address delivered through video conference, Modi hailed India's power of unity and said this will help the country become a world power.

The prime minister listed features in his government's recent Budget that he said will help farmers. But he stopped short of mentioning the continuing protest over the agri-marketing laws enacted in September.

"A lot of initiatives have also been taken to empower farmers. Over 1,000 markets were connected with farmers so that they can sell their crops anywhere. Over Rs 40,000 crore for rural infrastructure will help farmers," he said.

He said the government is also focusing on creating healthcare facilities in rural areas so that people do not have to go to cities for better treatment.