Gujarat minister blames immigrants for poverty in state

Ahmedabad, Feb 4:

Finance Minister Nitin Patel on Tuesday sparked off a fresh controversy over poverty figures in the state, reported

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Nitin Patel said that the poverty figures in the state has gone up because of the influx of immigrant labourers from Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

"People from all over the country come to Gujarat for employment. People come from Bihar, UP, Odisha and other states. When BPL families come to Gujarat they continue to enjoy the benefits accorded to BPL families. According to the Central government figures there are no BPL families in Gujarat. All salaries are above this amount," said Nitin Patel.

In reply, the Congress hit out at the Modi government. "Whoa! So now Nitin Patel, finance minister Gujarat says that poverty increase in Gujarat dew to outsiders coming in state," tweeted Congress General Secretary Ajay Maken.

"Narendra Modi is doing contradictory actions. His own government now issues a figure of Rs 10.80 for poor in India. Modi government had criticised Rs 32 figure that we gave few months back," Maken had said.

"Once Food Security Act comes into place then state governments (Gujarat government) cannot bring out a separate circular for identifying BPL people," he added. The Congress also demanded an apology from Modi.

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