Modi govt cuts cost of cardiac stents, knee implants unveiling Jan Aushadi stores

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday gave a bird's eye view of his government's initiatives to the BJP cadres in spheres, including checking inflation, making loans cheaper, bringing quality healthcare and support to farmers like increasing the Minimum Support Price.

Hailing the middle-class people as those who have contributed and sacrificed a lot for the country, he said they asked nothing in return. In an interaction with BJP workers of Tamil Nadu via video conference from New Delhi, he said just a couple of days back the Retail Inflation Figure came out which were "only, only, only 2.3 per cent, now a common man would not understand the importance of these numbers."

The significance needed to be explained, he said and recalled how it made a difference in their lives. In 2010, one kilo of moong dal was available for Rs 86 which went up to Rs 90 in 2014. If the price rise had continued at this rate, the price of moong dal would have reached Rs 95 to Rs 100 "but you know that the price of moong dal today is only 70 to 80 per kg." Similarly, giving wings to the dreams of middle classes several loans were now cheaper.

Educational, home, or automobile loans are available at much lesser rates now and the move has resulted in lower EMIs and increased savings for the common citizen. For example, he said the rate of Interest on home loans is around eight per cent as compared to around 10 per cent in Nov 2013 during the UPA era. Also, the government contributed interest subvention for a home loan. Similarly, the interest on education loans has also come down to around 10.5 per cent from the UPA era of around 14 per cent, Modi said. On healthcare, he said to make healthcare affordable and to provide the right to quality healthcare, the government took several steps like unveiling the Jan Aushadhi stores where many medicines are available at less than half of market prices.

The government brought down the cost of cardiac stents and knee implants significantly and it has brought cheer in the lives of the elderly and their blessings "means a lot for us." He also mentioned health insurance scheme "Ayushman Bharat which people call "Modi care." In less than three months, five lakh people availed of the scheme and got treatment free of cost. "It is setting off a massive transformation on the ground with health no longer an obstacle.. the amount of energy being focused on productivity pursuit on the ground is going to unleash a new era of change," Modi said.

Citing schemes including the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan and 'Indradhanush', he said such schemes safeguarded the country's future. With an aim to reduce the tax burden on common people, multiple measures have been taken by government which has resulted in lesser tax for them and with the rolling out of the GST, there are around 150 items that attract zero per cent tax and some 400 items that have taxes on them reduced.

He said public services to have become public centric and efficient. People have even got passports in two days. The Ujwala Scheme (Free LPG connections) provides a healthy and smoke-free life to women, he said. "From the cost of daily life commodities to health from loans to income tax, ease of living has become a pleasure in every citizen's life," Modi added.

(With inputs from agencies.)