Mysuru:  Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, admiring the achievements of her Government in the last five years, said that it was due to relentless work touching upon every aspect of people’s lives by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the country is marching  towards development in every field.

She was speaking at the packed ‘Intellectuals Meet’ organised by the BJP at Hotel Southern Star here yesterday. She said, “Though we cannot say we have delivered everything, we can definitely say that speed to deliver is the essence of this Government.”

Going back to the elections five years ago when the BJP took a decision to project Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial face, she said that whatever has been done since June 1, 2014, the broad indicator shows that each decision of the Cabinet has only taken the country forward towards achieving the growth and achieving what the PM calls “Sab Ka Saath Sab Ka Vikas.”  

She said the Bankruptcy Code has been introduced by Modi Government to help businessmen come out of tough situations and start all over again.

“And all this has been achieved in a corruption-free environment. Corruption earlier was a big elephant in the room. But PM Modi has never cared for any of these things and moved forward with a great deal of alacrity to bring even the economic offenders back to the country,” said Sitharaman.

Pulwama Attack

If the then Central Government had taken decisive action of containing terrorism after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, probably we would not be witnessing the Pulwama terror attack today. But we have given a befitting reply within a few days after the attack and this has been possible only because of the tough decisions taken under the leadership of Modi, said Nirmala Sitharaman.

“This was non-military and pre-emptive attack and we still keep our guards up. The Indian Air Force’s action was precise based on intelligence reports and it was an appropriate response to Pakistan’s attack on our soil. Also because of the standing that Prime Minister Modi enjoys internationally, not one global voice condemned India for the attack post Feb.26. Pakistan has been put on the grey list ‘FATF’ (Financial Action Task Force), as the money trail for terror funds leads to  that country,” she said.

Today the country is in safe hands because of the corruption-free atmosphere, hard work and efforts to meet the aspirations of the people. This was unlike the previous Governments which were hesitant to take critical decisions. Hence, we do not want the country to go back 50 years by people making a wrong choice by not voting this Government back to power. If BJP does not come to power again it will indirectly affect the future of our children, said Sitharaman.

Question & Answer

In the interaction session that followed, Star of Mysore Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy asked the question about the presence of Fifth Column in our country. He quoted a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi made recently that appeared in a newspaper saying, “I regret that some people who live in India continue to speak the language of Pakistan,” and asked, “Is there a Fifth Column in India? If so, has the Government done anything to identify them? If it has done, will you be ready to take action under the law?”

Nirmala Sitharaman seemed flummoxed by the question but  soon in a measured way said that as a Defence Minister she could not give an answer in the public but when the time comes a proper response will be given by the Government and the Army. However, all that can be said was that for the country’s security, lot of importance will be given.

Private defence equipment manufacturers

Industrialist Pavan Ranga informed the Defence Minister that his home-grown company was producing defence equipment by acquiring technology after going abroad and interacting with arms manufacturers in Europe and other parts. However, China has adopted a policy where it funds the defence equipment manufacturers. Is there any such provision in the Government to fund  private players?

Sitharaman replied that there is no such fund to help private defence manufacturers. Since this issue has been brought to her notice she would see that officials from the Defence can be deployed at the manufacturing units and if their products stood up to quality tests then she could assure him of an order for the next ten years.

National Education Service

Kautilya Vidyalaya Principal Dr. L. Savitha said that if people from the IAS and IPS are posted to the Education Departments as is done nowadays, then nothing much can be expected of them regarding the education policy. Instead, if a National Education Service, like National Administrative Services IAS, IPS, IRS etc., is set up, it would serve the education needs better.

Sitharaman simply responded saying, indeed it was a very good suggestion.

Earlier, there was more interaction before the arrival of the Defence Minister. Mysuru District Brahamana Sangha President D.T. Prakash raised a question that since eight years no action has been taken regarding the Lansdowne Building which is lying in a state of disrepair and if a surgical strike was required to do this.

MP Pratap Simha, reacting, said that if the repair or restoration work has to be taken up then even Rs. 50 crore would be insufficient. There is a lobby working to scuttle it. Instead of restoring it, the entire structure should be demolished and a new building constructed. However, due to a few politicians doing cheap politics the situation has remained status quo.

Asked what then was the solution, he replied that just like there is Narendra Modi Government at the Centre, bring BJP to power in the State.

BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) B.L. Santosh, MLA L. Nagendra, Litterateur and Saraswati Samman awardee Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa, BJP Leader and District Cooperative Union President H.V. Rajeev and others were present.