BJP lost polls in phases 1 & 2, says Derek, fact-checks Modi's false claims
Kolkata: Demolishing allegations raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his speech at Cooch Behar on Tuesday, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien comes up with a fact-checker highlighting a counter narrative on social media.
Rubbishing Modi's claim that BJP would win Bengal, Derek O' Brien tweeted: "The reality is you (BJP) lost Phase I. You lost Phase 2. You will be humiliated in Phase 3."
Criticising Modi's statement that the people of north Bengal including the indigenous groups and tea garden workers had been deprived for 10 years, O' Brien claimed the Housing department had introduced a new scheme called 'Chaa Sundari' to provide pucca houses to the permanent tea garden workers who did not have one. 'In the first phase, construction of 4600 houses have been taken up,' he tweeted.
In his tweet, Derek mentioned that the state government would open 100 schools in the tea garden areas, in which the medium of instruction will be Sadri language in the next five years. Three hundred para-teachers will be engaged for the purpose. A sum of Rs 50 crore has been allocated for the purpose, he added.
Declining the allegation that people of Bengal were suffering from water scarcity, the MP stated Mamata Banerjee had announced Jal Swapno project worth Rs 58,000 crore to provide piped water to 2 crore households. "The Jal Dharo Jal Bharo scheme has been a great success. Thirty five thousand eight hundred and nineteen piped water supply systems and tube wells were also set up for 2.25 crore rural people during 2011- 19, compared to 15, 631 from 2004- 11," he cited.
Refuting the claim that Bengal had been denied the benefits of Ayushman Bharat, Derek tweeted that the state had implemented a better health insurance scheme—Swasthya Sathi—two years before Ayushmann Bharat was introduced in the country. "Ayushmann Bharat covers 40% of India's population while Swasthya Sathi covers 100 per cent of Bengal's population. The beneficiaries have to pay Rs 150 to get the Ayushman Bharat card while Swasthya Sathi card is free. Under Ayushmann Bharat, the state government has to bear 40 percent of the cost while under Swasthya Sathi, Bengal government bears the entire expenditure," he stated.
