Modi's priority is black money

New Delhi:Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged in his radio address Sunday to bring back "every bit" of unaccounted wealth stashed abroad and said his Clean India drive had become a mass movement.

Speaking on a variety of subjects in the 20-minute programme, the prime minister said that Khadi Gram Udyog Bhavan authorities had reported a hike of 125 percent in sales since he urged people earlier to go for khadi.

Addressing the nation for the second time in a month on All India Radio -- the address was heard on Doordarshan too, Modi said his government was on the right track to bring back black money and there would be no bias.

"I reiterate that, as far as black money is concerned, please have faith on this 'pradhan sevak' (prime servant) of yours, and it is an article of faith for me.

"Every bit of the money of the poor that has been stashed abroad has to be brought back. This is my commitment," he said.

Modi said there could be different opinions on the process to bring back the unaccounted wealth. But "based on my knowledge and understanding of the subject, I can assure you that we are on the right path".

The Modi government has submitted to the Supreme Court a list of 627 Indians holding accounts in foreign banks.

Modi touched upon a range of subjects including on people's feedback on the Swachh Bharat or Clean India campaign and on the human resource development ministry's effort to help disabled children in the wake of his reference to them in his last radio talk Oct 3.

Modi said he would discuss the effects of drugs in his next radio address. He asked people to share information with him on the subject.

He also said that citizens who do not have access to social media and the internet can write to him at Akashwani and he would seriously consider various suggestions.

The prime minister said his reference to the needs of the specially-abled children during his last radio address had inspired the human resource development ministry to think of schemes to help such children.

One scheme was to provide 1,000 such meritorious children with scholarships to study in technical institutes. The other was to provide Rs.1 lakh to each Kendriya Vidyalaya and central university to create infrastructure for the disabled such as ramps and special toilets.

The prime minister expressed happiness at the results of the Swachh Bharat campaign, which he said had taken the form of a "jan andolan" or mass movement.

He said people, even children, were now taking care to throw chocolate wrappers in dustbins.

Referring to his last radio talk when he urged people to purchase at least one item of khadi, the prime minister said the Khadi Gram Udyog Bhavan had reported that their sales had gone up by 125 percent.

He referred to his visit to Siachen on Diwali Oct 23 and congratulated an Indian Army team for winning the gold medal at the Cambrian Patrol event in Britain while competing against more than 140 teams.

Saying that a new change was sweeping through Indian society, Modi said that when people come to visit him, they speak a lot about the problems of the society and how they can help -- and less about their own matters.