Govt on appeasement drive; plans to gift cellphones to poor

New Delhi, Aug 8: Doling out freebies to the aam aadmi by political parties ahead of elections is a common phenomenon in India. But this time around, the freebies come from none other than the Centre after it was reported that all families living below the poverty line are likely to get mobile phones.

Reports suggest that the government is likely to make an announcement on this regard when the Prime Minister makes his Independence Day speech. The scheme reportedly titled, "Har Haath Mein Phone (a phone in every hand)" will be implemented at a cost of Rs 7,000 crore.

The report also states that as many as six million families will benefit from this scheme and they will be provided 200 free minutes.

Soon after the news on the freebie mobile phone came out, the BJP slammed the attempt and called it a desperate attempt to please voters ahead of the 2014 general elections. BJP leader Balbir Punj has been quoted as saying, "First, electricity should be provided to people in villages. Without electricity, what is the use of free mobile phones? The government has not been able to implement any scheme without corruption."

The Har Haath Mein Phone scheme was allegedly conceived by the Planning Commission, with the Finance Ministry, the brain behind it.

OneIndia News