Kharge writes to PM Modi, requests a meeting to ‘explain’ Congress Nyay Patra

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh in a post on X said, "Congress president Mallikarjun khargeji has just written to the PM saying that he would be happy to meet him to explain the reality of the Congress Nyay Patra which Mr. Modi may have missed in his persistent efforts to distort and defame it."

The Congress on Thursday, 25 April, also questioned the BJP over the issue of examination paper leaks in Uttar Pradesh and asked why the ruling party has failed to end this "scourge".

Ramesh posed questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he heads to Uttar Pradesh for poll rallies.

"What happened to the Rs. 1600 crores that were supposedly spent on cleaning the Yamuna? Why does UP have twenty times less doctors than the rest of India? Why has the BJP failed to end the scourge of paper leaks in UP?" Ramesh said in a post on X.

Elaborating on what he said were 'jumla details", Ramesh said, "Yesterday, the Municipal Corporations of Agra and Mathura-Vrindavan were fined more than Rs. 65 crore by the National Green Tribunal for discharging untreated sewage into the river Yamuna."

The NGT observed that the two civic bodies had "flagrantly violated" rules regarding the discharge of pollution, and that the Agra civil body was operating two sewage treatment plants without the required permissions, Ramesh said.

"Simultaneously, the Supreme Court was forced to intervene in Agra and order that silt, sludge and filth from the river be cleaned immediately, after hearing a petition from a local NGO. Every few years, the BJP reiterates their commitment to cleaning the Yamuna but the river is only getting filthier," he said.

In the last nine years, the central government has spent more than Rs 1,600 crore on cleaning efforts under the Namami Gange Yojana but it is unclear where these funds are ending up, Ramesh alleged.

"If the Yamuna is now more polluted than it was before, has the BJP made any effort at all to clean the river? Why does it take the rap of the NGT and the Supreme Court to get the BJP to undertake real cleaning efforts?" he said.

Ramesh further said Uttar Pradesh is suffering from a severe shortage of trained doctors.

"The state has only 1 doctor for every 18,000 residents, almost twenty times less than the national average of 1 doctor per 1000 people. Out of 19,000 sanctioned doctors' posts, only 12,000 are currently filled, and the state needs an additional 33,000 specialist doctors," he said.

Recently, the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission released vacancies for 400 doctors but only 40 posts could be filled, he noted.

"Why has the quality of public healthcare in UP declined so precipitously under BJP rule? In the Congress Nyay Patra, we have committed to filling all vacant posts in public health institutions within three years of coming to power," the Congress general secretary said.

"To support this effort, we will double the income of doctors working in rural areas, and set up one medical college-cum hospital in every district in India. Does PM Modi have any vision for rebuilding public health institutions in Uttar Pradesh?" he said.

Under the Modi government's reign, more than 43 papers for government recruitment exams have been leaked, hurting at least 2 crore candidates, he said.

"Most recently, 60 lakh applicants for the UP Police Exams had their futures clouded when exams were cancelled due to paper leaks. These are not just numbers - it is the hopes and dreams of India's youth that are hanging in the balance," Ramesh said.

"Under its Yuva Nyay Guarantee, the Congress has committed to bringing robust legislation that will design institutions and best practices to prevent paper leaks from occurring in the first place. What is Mr. Modi's vision to address the harm done to our youth? What is the BJP's 'Double Engine' Sarkar doing to rectify its mistakes and ensure that our youth never face such injustice again?" Ramesh said and asked the prime minister to break his "silence" on these issues.

With PTI inputs