New Delhi: Taking a jibe at political leaders exploiting photo opportunities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he does not need to take a cameraman with him to understand poverty.
Addressing the 46th Indian Labour Conference, he said the poor have more right on me than any other prime minister in the past.
“I have seen poverty, I have no difficulty in understanding their plight. I do not need to take a cameraman to know about poverty. I fully understand it and I have the zeal to do something for poor,” he said recalling his humble origins.
Modi also said changes in the laws will be made only after consensus and stressed that “obsolete and unnecessary” laws are being weeded out.
He said there is a thin line that separates the interest of workers and their unions and the same should be respected.
“Efforts would be made to modify labour laws through consensus,” the Prime Minister said, adding that the consultation process with trade unions would continue.
Modi further said that the “obsolete and unnecessary” laws were being weeded out as part of the government’s objective to achieve “minimum government and maximum governance”.
The government has set up a high-level inter-ministerial committee under Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to evolve a consensus on labour reforms. The first meet, which was held yesterday, failed to make any substantive headway.
