Our PM neither sleeps nor allows us to sleep: Venkaiah Naidu

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's style of functioning, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said the leader neither sleeps nor allows his Cabinet colleagues to do so.

"I was telling in the morning our prime minister does not sleep and does not allow others to sleep," the Union urban development and parliamentary affairs minister said at a function here as he talked about packed schedules.

"But we are enjoying. Because working for the people ...working for the betterment of life of the common man is the most enjoyable thing in life," said Naidu, who left the event mid-way to attend four other engagements today before flying to Barcelona on Sunday evening.

When some Cabinet colleagues said five years would be needed to achieve the target to make everybody a bank account holder in the country, the prime minister said the exercise should be completed in one year, he said.

Naidu said by the end of seven weeks since 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana' was launched, (an additional) 6.99 crore people now have bank accounts.

Before the exercise began, 58 per cent of the country's population, mostly in rural areas, had no bank accounts, he said.