PM Narendra Modi takes a potshot at P Chidambaram during 5G launch

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today took a veiled dig at former finance minister P Chidambaram while talking about the Digital India initiative. Without naming the Congress Rajya Sabha member, PM Modi said that a handful of elite-class people doubted the potential of poor people and Digital India and even one of them went on to say odd things in Parliament.

"Just like the government started a campaign to deliver electricity to every household or worked on the mission of providing clean water to everyone through Har Ghar Jal Abhiyan or through the Ujjwala scheme, the gas cylinder was delivered to the poorest of the poor or connected people to the banking sector through Jan Dhan scheme, similarly, our government has been working on the goal of the Internet for all.....Our policy support for 4G services led to a decrease in data prices and thus resulted in a data revolution," said PM Modi.

He further said, "There was a time when a handful of elite-class people and some of them....see their speeches in Parliament, see what they used to say inside the house...they used to make a joke of this (Digital India). They used to think that poor people have no potential and they cannot understand Digital things. They used to doubt poor people. They suspected that poor people would not even understand the meaning of digital. But I have always had faith in the understanding of the common man of the country, in his conscience, in his inquisitive mind," said PM Modi.

Watch Video From 2.14.40 minutes

PM Modi was taking a potshot at P Chidambaram for the Congress leader's speech in the Rajya Sabha where the former finance minister questioned the Digital India initiative.

This is how P Chidambaram mocked digital India.!

But , now India crossed 100$ billion digital transactions by value in Oct. 2021.

In just 3 years India becoming a global leader in Digital Transactions.! pic.twitter.com/BXARgzPt7J

— S A Ramadass (@ramadassmysuru) November 9, 2021

"....Go to a village fair, buy potatoes and tomatoes and pay Rs 7.50 by credit card. What will the poor lady do? Does she have a POS machine there? Is it connected to an electricity source? Is there WiFi? Is the internet working there?...." Chidambaram had said.

Today, India leads the world in real-time digital payments. The Reserve Bank of India’s digital payment index (DPI) showed that DPI rose to 349.30 as of March 2022, compared to 304.06 in September 2021.