PM Modi gestures as he speaks during the inauguration of a conference on Financial Inclusion in Mumbai on April 2. (Agence France-Presse)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Mumbai on Thursday to address a conference on financial inclusion organised to mark 80 years of existence of the Reserve Bank of India.
"Can't we ask ourselves how we can make our banking system so strong that no farmer is forced to give up his life just because he can't repay the loan (from money lenders)?" the PM said.
Addressing the issue of subsidies, he said, "I had just suggested that people who can afford should not take gas subsidies. Look at the response in our country. Two lakh people gave up gas subsidies. But this is not a ploy to save money. We just want to give that cylinder to a household that still uses wood for cooking, so that the poor family does not suffer."
"We also have to consider geographical inclusion. The western part of the country has seen the financial system grow but the east is still lagging behind instead of being rich in resources. We have to include areas that are lagging behind in our model of inclusion. Where you have already grown you will grow slowly, but where you are yet to grow you will grow really soon," said Mr Modi, with a clear focus on the eastern part of the country where elections are due. Bihar goes to polls later this year and elections are due in West Bengal in 2016.
The Prime Minister's speech got a fabulous response from captains of industry like Anand Mahindra who tweeted, "RBI's 80th anniversary function is not where you'd expect @PMOIndia to make an inspired&impassioned extempore speech--but that's what he did."
But the Congress lashed out at the PM. Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam even held a protest but was whisked away by the police even before they could get anywhere close to the PM's convoy. "Modi is great at doing drama and giving such speeches but he cannot deliver. Where is the 'acchey din'?" he told NDTV.