Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari spoke at the India Economic Forum 2018 on Monday. From the work done in his Ministry to absconding businessman Vijay Mallya, the Minister talked about various other things.
On the issue of employment, Gadkari said that the investment whether public, private or government, can only be called productive if it helps in employment generation because employment generation, he feels, is the only way to solve the problems of poverty, hunger and unemployment.
Talking about the inland waterway on Ganga, the Minister informed that he is working on creating inland waterways which will bring down the cost of transport significantly. He claimed to have transported 80 lakh tonnes of material through the recently started inland waterway on river Ganga and aims to transport 280 lakh tonnes of material through it next year.
When asked to comment on Vijay Mallya, Gadkari said that Mallya had been paying his dues for the last 40 year, he defaulted only once. Every business has risks, if a mistake is bona fide, the person should be assisted, he added. It is not right to call a person fraud instantly if he commits a mistake. This mentality is not right.
To the allegation on his government of destroying the institutions in reference to the recent developments in the RBI, the Minister replied that institutions are bound to work according to the policy laid down by the federal government. It is the government which is answerable for the economic situation in the country and not the RBI. He added that the RBI is independent but it cannot lay down the policies. Being a part of the government it and is bound by the economic vision laid down by the Finance Ministry.
He expressed hope that BJP will again form the government after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.