Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said his government is inspired by Lord Ram’s principles of governance with honesty and urged people to light Ram Jyoti on January 22, stressing that it will be an inspiration to remove poverty from their lives.

“Modi’s guarantee means ‘guarantee puri hone ki guarantee’. Lord Ram taught us to honour commitments made and we are fulfilling all goals we set for the welfare of the poor and their empowerment,” he said.

The PM was addressing a gathering in Maharashtra’s Solapur after laying the foundation stone of 8 AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) projects worth around Rs 2,000 crore in the state.

He also dedicated more than 90,000 houses completed under PMAY-Urban in Maharashtra.

The Prime Minister dedicated 15,000 houses of Raynagar Housing Society in Solapur, whose beneficiaries comprise thousands of handloom workers, vendors, power loom workers, rag pickers, beedi workers and drivers.

He also kickstarted the distribution of 1st and 2nd instalments to 10,000 beneficiaries of PM-SVANIDHI in Maharashtra during the programme.

In a choked voice, the prime minister said he wished he had had the opportunity to stay in such houses when he was young.

“Happiness comes when people's dreams come true. Their blessings are my biggest investment,” he said.

Urging people, who got the houses, to light Ram Jyoti on January 22, when the consecration of the Ayodhya Ram temple will be held, Modi said it will be an inspiration to eradicate poverty from their lives.

“Lord Ram did the work that made his people happy. My government is dedicated to the welfare and empowerment of the poor. We launched schemes to mitigate their hardships,” he said, adding that the role of middlemen has been completely eradicated in his government’s welfare schemes.

Modi said homes and toilets have been constructed in ten years as the lack of these amenities was insulting to the poor, especially women.

“We have constructed more than 10 crore toilets which is Modi’s ‘izzat ki guarantee’ for women and provided more than four crore pucca houses so far,” he said.

Welfare of the poor and dignity of labour has been his government’s focus, the PM said.

Making India ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) is crucial for turning it into ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India), he said, appealing to people to dream big. “Your dream is my pledge and this is Modi’s guarantee,” he said.

Modi said ‘Garibi Hatao’ was just a slogan earlier because schemes did not reach beneficiaries.

Recalling the slogan “aadhi roti khayenge…” from the past, the PM said that under “Modi guarantee, you will eat full roti”.

Modi said the “niyat” (intent), niti (policy) and nishtha (commitment) of the previous government were not clear, but the niyat of his government is “clear”, while niti is meant to empower people and nishtha is towards the nation.

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