New Delhi, August 19 : Mallikarjun Kharge, the President of the Congress party, asserted on Saturday that a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) highlighted the failure of the government’s flagship UDAN scheme on 93 percent of its routes. Kharge criticized the government, accusing it of providing the public with nothing but “lies” and empty promises.
The UDAN scheme, named Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN), was introduced on October 21, 2016, by the Union government to enhance regional air connectivity and make air travel affordable for residents of tier-2 and tier-3 cities and towns.
Mallikarjun Kharge took to X in a Hindi post to express his views, stating that the Modi government’s commitment to enable even those who wear slippers to fly has remained unfulfilled, similar to their other promises.
“The CAG Report is not our claim, it is saying this! The UDAN scheme failed to operate on 93 percent of the routes. There was even a lack of independent audits for airlines. The much-touted helicopter services also remained grounded,” alleged Kharge.
He further added, “Instead of experiencing ‘UDAN,’ all we got were falsehoods and empty rhetoric! The people of India will no longer tolerate such an inept government!”
Earlier, on Wednesday, the Congress party had accused the CAG of identifying “scams” in infrastructure projects led by the BJP-led Central government. The Congress spokesperson, Supriya Shrinate, demanded an investigation into these alleged irregularities and emphasized the need to hold Prime Minister Narendra Modi accountable.
“Accountability needs to be established through an inquiry into these alleged scams. When will the Prime Minister finally address these purported irregularities and break his silence?” questioned Shrinate.
