Hard work vs Harvard: PM Narendra Modi takes a dig at critics of demonetisation

NEW DELHI/MAHARAJGANJ: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took a dig at the critics of demonetisation citing recent GDP figures and repeated his old barb "hard work is more powerful than Harvard".

The government had on Tuesday pegged GDP growth at a higher-than-expected 7.1 per cent for 2016-17 despite the cash blues, which was higher than China's 6.8 per cent for October-December period of 2016, making India retain the tag of the world's fastest growing economy.

"Well-known intellectuals from Harvard and Oxford (universities), who have been at key positions in the Indian economic system, had said the GDP would go down by two per cent, some others said it would go down by four per cent," PM Modi said at an election rally here.

Without naming anyone, the Prime Minister said: "On one hand, there are these intellectuals who talk about Harvard, and on the other, there is this son of a poor mother, who is trying to change the economy of the country through hard work."

"In fact, hard work is much more powerful than Harvard," the PM said without elaborating.

It may be mentioned that former finance minister P Chidambaram and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen are from Harvard while former PM Mamnohan Singh is from Oxford. All three have been strong critics of demonetisation.

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, who is professor of economics and philosophy at Harvard University, recently termed demonetisation as a "despotic action that has struck at the root of economy based on trust".

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress leader P Chidambaram have also been vocal critics of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

In fact, Chidamabram had been at the receiving end of PM Modi's barb on "hard work versus Harvard" in 2014 too.

During campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls, Modi had attacked the then UPA finance minister's Harvard education after the latter made fun of his knowledge about economics.

"You are educated from a big university. I am from a poor background from a small village. The finance minister is from Harvard. I am from hard-work. Do we need Harvard or hardwork for the development of the country?" Modi had said at a rally in Tamil Nadu.

PM quotes UP website to attack Akhilesh government

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also referred to the website of the Uttar Pradesh government to slam chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on his 'kaam bolta hai' slogan.

"The UP government website endorses my statement of 'karnama bolta hai' as the site says life in UP is short and uncertain ... In this respect, UP resembles Saharan Africa," he said.

Modi said he was sure that as soon as his speech was over, the officers entrusted with the task of maintaining the website would be immediately reprimanded.

He also took a dig at the Congress-SP alliance claiming, "One of them has the expertise in destroying India, while the other has the expertise in destroying Uttar Pradesh."

Modi said the state got a 'bua' (aunty), a 'bhatija' (nephew) and father of the bhatija in the last 15 years. "Has this benefitted the people of the state," he questioned the crowd.

He also challenged the Congress and asked what it had done for the country since Independence.

Noting that nearly 30 lakh families in the state were homeless, Modi said, "There are 1.5 crore homeless people in UP. The Centre has written 13 letters to the UP government seeking details of the issue. But, all the state government could give was a list of 11,000 people."

Stressing that poverty has no religion, he said, "The only endeavour of a poor person is to ensure a square meal for his children, education and a home for his family."

He also promised that by 2022, every family in the country would have a home.

Criticising the Akhilesh government, Modi said it could not spend the Centre's funds for electricity.

Modi claimed that because of his efforts and personal intervention, the prices of medicines, stents and LED bulbs have been controlled and curtailed.

"We are in the process of establishing a gas pipeline from Gujarat to Gorakhpur which will generate electricity and also employment," he said.  Amartya Sen is no doubt showing visible signs as to why he is drawing ire from many people in India. He shows commie ideologies and a die-hard member of Manmohan club.Kalyan Roy

"As a result, farmers were looted in a planned way. After this, we opted for neem coating of urea. The best thing about it is that it could be used only as fertilizer and not for any other purpose," he said, adding that now farmers are getting urea in time.