Twitter: @the_news_21
Union Defence Minister (Raksha Mantri) Rajnath Singh, delivering a keynote address on “India’s National Security” topic in Jammu, praised the Narendra Modi government for taking steps to minimize corruption. However, Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh also said that it is impossible to “root out” corruption and that he was not claiming that the Narendra Modi led BJP government had rooted out corruption as it would be impossible to do so. “Corruption cannot be minimized or rooted out by giving speeches alone. It cannot be rooted out. I am not claiming that we have rooted out corruption. Nobody can do it, don’t know it there was a time ever (Satyug) when there was no corruption…” said the Raksha Mantri during his speech. However, he added that only changes in system can help minimize corruption and that the Narendra Modi government had started to bring changes in the system.
The defence minister said that even he could not get his head around the “Naa khaaunga, naa khaane dunga” (will not do corruption and will not allow corruption) concept. He said that it was fine one would not indulge in corruption, but how can somebody stop someone else from doing corruption? Rajnath Singh, sharing an anecdote from Prime Minister’s early days in the office, when the Jan Dhan account Yojana was being conceptualised, said that he had asked PM Modi if it would be possible to open so many bank accounts? The Prime Minister had replied that yes it would be. “Today there is hardly anyone who doesn’t have a Jan Dhan account and money gets directly credited in the account,” said Singh.
Rajnath Singh said that former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi had himself admitted that only 15 paise reaches the common man out of every 100 paise that the government releases. Singh said that Rajiv Gandhi had showed helplessness but if “anyone took it (eradicating corruption) as a challenge, it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”