PM Narendra Modi to Address BJP Lawmakers at Workshop on Schemes for the Poor

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address BJP parliamentarians today at a day-long workshop which aims to educate them on how to promote and help implement centrally-sponsored schemes for the poor. The workshop coincides with a massive farmers' rally in the national capital that will be addressed by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi against the government's land acquisition bill that his party dubs as "anti-farmer".

At today's workshop - where PM Modi will make the inaugural address - senior ministers will "guide and motivate" lawmakers on various welfare schemes, according to the BJP's press release on the event that is being held a day before Parliament resumes the second half of the budget session. Union ministers Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari and M Venkaiah Naidu will address sessions and try to bring the MPs up to speed on central schemes for farmers and the poorest in India.

Those who want to attend the workshop will have to pay Rs. 500 as registration fee, but no one really thinks participation is optional. Sources say MPs do not want to risk being admonished by the leadership for not attending or even arriving late for the workshop. More than once, they have been prodded by the party to come prepared in Parliament and have also been warned that their conduct is being watched.

"The success of the schemes directly depends on the involvement of local public representatives, who need to have proper understanding of the schemes and should make a concerted effort for cooperation of people and involvement of the bureaucracy," the party's press release said.

The focus on schemes for the poor indicates a distinct shift in the stance of the Modi government, which has confronted aggressive protests against its proposed law to make land acquisitions easier for industrial and key infrastructure projects. The Congress and other opposition parties have attacked the measure as anti-farmer.