Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday hit out at Arvind Kejriwal, saying the Delhi chief minister had given a "perverse twist" to the debate on freebies. Health and education were never considered giveaways and no Indian government has ever denied them to the people, Sitharaman said.
The Union minister said Kejriwal was trying to instill fear in the minds of poor by classifying education and health as freebies.
“There should be a genuine debate on this matter,” she said responding to questions on the AAP leader's remarks on freebies.
Earlier, Kejriwal had questioned why the Centre was “strongly opposing” free facilities for people, saying there seems to be something wrong with the Narendra Modi government's finances.
He said the Centre collects huge amount of taxes, including Rs 3.5 lakh per annum on petrol and diesel, and was still against providing people of the country free education, healthcare and other facilities.
"What has happened all of sudden that Centre is citing lack of funds even for paying pension to soldiers. There seems to be something wrong with its finances," Kejriwal had said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday hit out at Arvind Kejriwal, saying the Delhi chief minister had given a "perverse twist" to the debates on freebies. Health and education were never considered giveaways and no Indian government has ever denied them to the people, Sitharaman said.
The Union minister said Kejriwal was trying to instill fear in the minds of poor by classifying education and health as freebies.
“There should be a genuine debate on this matter,” she said responding to questions on the AAP leader's remarks on freebies.
Earlier, Kejriwal had questioned why the Centre was “strongly opposing” free facilities for people, saying there seems to be something wrong with the Narendra Modi government's finances.
He said the Centre collects huge amount of taxes, including Rs 3.5 lakh per annum on petrol and diesel, and was still against providing people of the country free education, healthcare and other facilities.
"What has happened all of sudden that Centre is citing lack of funds even for paying pension to soldiers. There seems to be something wrong with its finances," Kejriwal had said.
The BJP hit out at the chief minister, saying the culture of freebies being promoted by him was more focussed on advertising.
“Kejriwal's mantra is vigyapan par zor, vyavastha me kamjor (Focus on advertisements, weak on governance). Kejriwal's revdi model means that of the 500 schools and 20 colleges promised, none have been delivered. This is the revdi culture we caution against," said BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla.
