Centre using drugs as tool to 'blind side' youth: Cong's Kanhaiya Kumar

Kumar said that drugs were being caught at several ports of the country, but the 'grave question' for the youth and the country was about the large consignments that managed to get through undetected.

Mumbai: Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Sunday alleged the Union government was using drugs as a tool to "blind side" the youth of the country.

Speaking at a press conference at the Mumbai Congress' office here, Kumar said drugs were being caught at several ports of the country, but the "grave question" for the youth and the country was about the large consignments that managed to get through undetected.

"There are several tools to blind side the youth and one of them is drugs. The youth are being trapped in drug addiction and are being forced into a state of delirium so that they don't know what is being done to them, their community, their past, their future, and their entire country," Kumar alleged.

In his first visit to the metropolis since being appointed in charge of the NSUI, the party's student wing, Kumar slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' slogan and questioned why thousands of people were being "ignored and kept away" from their rights in the redevelopment process of Dharavi.

Kumar said the Prime Minister was launching a special app for students at a time when the issue of unemployment was critical.

"Instead of making such announcements, he needs to fulfil his old promise of two crore jobs every year. In his 9-year tenure, where are the 18 crore jobs? Not even 10 per cent  of India's total budget is spent on education. It is clear the government wants to privatise education," he claimed.

"The common people cannot afford it. People spend their whole lives earning for children's school fees, uniforms, textbooks and other things. With this on one side, students are under a lot of stress due to unemployment. On an average, a student commits suicide every hour in the country today," Kumar claimed.

Attacking Modi, Kumar said people of the country would have been in a much better state even if 5 per cent of the promises made by the PM were fulfilled, but the situation was such that 'achhe din' (good days) cannot be seen even with binoculars.

He should now do 'Jan Ki Baat' (people's demands and desires) rather than Mann Ki Baat, Kumar asserted.

Speaking about Maharashtra, Kumar claimed the Eknath Shinde government was taking citizens for granted, adding that people of the state "understand everything" and will show the ruling dispensation "its place".

To ensure employment generation, Kumar said there was a need to change the country's economic policy.

"We have killed our productivity. Employment generation will happen only if manufacturing is emphasised along with the service sector. For that, monopoly should end. Today, in the country there is a centralised system in all the sectors. As a result, not everyone gets equal opportunity. Only if a level playing field is created for competition will new entrepreneurs and industries emerge," he said.

Mocking Deputy Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis, Kumar said the former keeps saying "I will return" but his supporters and the party's central leadership are ignoring him.

"Despite having 105 MLAs, a person from another party was installed as the chief minister and he had to work as a deputy chief minister under him. I feel sorry for Fadnavis," Kumar said.