Kharge slams govt, says CAG report shows UDAN scheme didn’t work on 93 per cent routes

New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday claimed that a CAG report has pointed out that the Centre’s flagship UDAN scheme did not work on 93 per cent of the routes, and said that the common people only got “lies” and “jumlas” from the government.

A regional connectivity scheme was launched under the name of UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) on October 21, 2016, by the Union government to stimulate regional air connectivity and make air travel affordable to the masses in tier-2 and tier-3 cities and towns.

In a post in Hindi on X, Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Modi government’s promise of enabling those wearing slippers travel by air has not been fulfilled “just like all their promises”.

“We are not saying this, the CAG Report is saying this! The scheme (UDAN) did not work on 93 per cent of the routes. Even independent audit of airlines was not done. The much publicized Helicopter services also remained stalled,” Kharge alleged.

“Didn’t get ‘UDAN’, just talk of lies and jumlas! India will not forgive such an incompetent government now!” the Congress president said.

The Congress on Wednesday had also alleged the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out “scams” in infrastructure projects of the BJP-led Central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be held accountable.

There should be a probe into the alleged scams and accountability should be fixed, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate had said, asking when will the PM break his “silence” on the alleged irregularities.