Modhvia terms Modi's claims as false propaganda

Gandhinagar, Jun 15 (UNI) Congress Leader of Opposition in Gujarat Legislative Assembly Arjun Modhvia today alleged that the claims of Chief Minister Narendra Modi that Gujarat is on the path of progress and development was nothing but false propagandas.

In a statement issued here, Mr Modivadia alleged that in fact during the last ten year's Bharatiya Janata Party's rule, Gujarat has slumped down to the 15th position from the earliers 9th position.

He further alleged that the Modi Government, rather than taking remedial actions, was engaging itself in Yatras from time to time under various pretexts and banners to mislead the people and, waste public money and resources.

Giving support to his claims, the Gujarat Congress leader stated that as per the 1991 census, the literacy ratios of men and women were 61 and 49 per cent respectively, which have been marginally increased to 69 and 58 per cent in the 2001 census, Mr Modhvadia alleged.

Compared to Gujarat's literacy ratio other developed states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab have made remarkable improvement. Even backward states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have also achieved glaring results in improving the literacy rate, leaving behind Gujarat, he said.

Mr Modhvadia adviced that instead of resorting to taking out 'Yatras', the Modi Government should take action on warfooting to construct the school rooms in the areas where the literacy rate is very poor, and to appoint 'Vidhya Sahayak' on all the vacant posts and initiate a programme to ensure literacy for all the children below 15 years in a joint effort along with district education officers, local body panchayats, NGOs and others.

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