Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated, dedicated and laid the foundation stone of various key initiatives worth over Rs 4,350 crores in Tripura.
“Our focus is on all-round development of Tripura. Projects launched today will give fillip to the state’s growth trajectory. I congratulate that my mothers are now getting houses worth lakhs. Double-engine government is there in Tripura , before this only during election there were talks on Tripura . Also when there was violence, Tripura was referred. Now things have changed,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister said many National highways have been constructed in the North East region in the last 8 years. “Many rural areas are also connected by roads… Our double engine government’s focus is on improving physical, digital as well social infrastructure,” he added.
From the rally ground, the Prime Minister launched the “Grih Pravesh” programme for more than two lakh beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban and Rural – schemes.
“Cleanliness became a mass movement in the last five years and, as a result, Tripura emerged as the cleanest among small states of the country,” Modi said.
Tripura bagged the top rank among states among the states having less than 100 local bodies in a survey conducted by the central government.
The majority of beneficiaries of welfare schemes are women from Tripura, the Prime Minister said.
Through the PM Matru Vandana Yojana, every lactating mother is getting money in their bank accounts, he said adding that institutional delivery is being done so that the mother, as well as the child, is healthy.
The PM said that thousands of crores of rupees are being spent on connectivity and infrastructure projects in Tripura.
Tripura is emerging as the new gateway of trade in the North-East, which would be connected with Thailand, Myanmar and other countries, he said.
“Double engine government is working hard for the betterment of the people of Tripura,” Modi said.
People showered flower petals on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s car as he held a roadshow in Tripura’s Agartala on Sunday.
#WATCH | People shower flower petals on PM Modi’s car as he holds a roadshow in Tripura’s AgartalaPM Modi will inaugurate, dedicate and lay the foundation stone of various key initiatives worth over Rs 4,350 crores here.
(Source: DD) pic.twitter.com/157GcXhbx5
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2022
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra attended the golden jubilee celebrations of the North Eastern Council in Meghalaya’s Shillong. Union Ministers Amit Shah and G Kishan Reddy, and Chief Ministers of all northeastern states also participated in the celebrations.
Addressing the event, the Prime Minister highlighted the ‘shift in the mindset’ of the workings of the Centre and said his government has shown a ‘Red Card’ to many obstacles that came in way of the northeast’s development in the last eight years.
“We have transformed the intention with which governments used to work for the development of North East. We have transformed the work culture,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi said his government has changed the priorities of the Centre and its positive impact is visible across the country. “This year, the Centre is spending Rs 7 lakh crore just for infrastructure. Eight years back, this was less than even Rs 2 lakh crore. Seven decades after independence, we reached only up to Rs 2 lakh crore,” he said.
The Prime Minister further said that his government is making honest efforts to send out “corruption, bias, nepotism, violence, stalling of projects, and vote bank politics”. “But you know that the roots of these diseases run deep. So, we all have to uproot it together,” he added.
Calling North East ‘gateway’ to security and prosperity of the country, Modi said that new opportunities are being created for the youth of North East through digital connectivity. “PM-DevINE scheme is going to give a new impetus to the development of North East,” he said.
PM Modi also talked about the ‘football fever’ that is gripping the nation amid the ongoing FIFA world cup, and said, “We may be looking at today’s game in Qatar and looking at the foreign teams on the field. But I’m confident of the youth of the country. So, I can confidently say that the day is not far when we’ll celebrate a similar festival in India and cheer for the Tiranga.”
Speaking at the event, Shah said, “If you compare the northeast that existed 8 years ago and the northeast that exists today, you will find that after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister for the first time the northeast is walking on the path to peace and development.”
He said that in previous governments, the budget was allocated for the northeast but it didn’t percolate. “After PM Modi came to power, with several changes, the budget has reached the villages today and can be seen converting into actual work. This is a major achievement,” the Home Minister added.
Shah further said that incidents of attacks on security personnel have gone down by 60 per cent, while civilian deaths have gone down 89% since BJP government came to power.
“Around 8,000 youths have surrendered and chosen to join the mainstream. This is a major achievement of PM Narendra Modi,” he said.
“Under PM Modi, the northeast has gone ahead on the path of development. Peace has prevailed in the northeast. Earlier, a lot of demands were made to repeal AFSPA. Now, nobody needs to make demands, staying two steps ahead Govt is taking initiatives to repeal AFSPA,” Shah added.
The Minister further asserted that today, 60 per cent of Assam is AFSPA-free, while in Arunachal Pradesh, only one district remains under the act’s jurisdiction.
“A total of 15 Police station limits in six districts of Manipur are now AFSPA-free. In Arunachal Pradesh, only one district remains covered in AFSPA. In Nagaland, it has been lifted from seven districts and in Tripura and Meghalaya, AFSPA completely lifted,” he said.
PM Modi in Poll-Bound Tripura and Meghalaya Today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a visit to poll-bound Tripura and Meghalaya on Sunday to inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of projects worth more than Rs 6,800 crore there. These two northeastern States, along with Nagaland, are headed for Assembly polls by February-March 2023.
The elections in the three states hold great importance for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is eyeing to capture the entire Northeast region. Having romped back to power in Assam and Manipur for the second consecutive term, the BJP, which is the ruling party in Tripura, hopes to keep the winning momentum going in three other northeastern states. The National People’s Party, an NDA ally, formed the government in Meghalaya in 2018 with Conrad Sangma as the chief minister.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the new projects that are set to be launched encompass a wide array of sectors, including housing, road, agriculture, telecom, IT, tourism and hospitality.
PM Modi In Meghalaya
Prime Minister Modi has a busy schedule going into the northeast. Starting his tour from Meghalaya, where he participated in the golden jubilee celebration of the North Eastern Council and attend its meeting in Shillong.
The North Eastern Council (NEC) was formally inaugurated on November 7, 1972, and it has played a key role in the region’s socio-economic development by supporting various infrastructure projects and development initiatives.
It has helped create valuable capital and social infrastructure, especially in critical gap areas of sectors, including education, health, sports, water resources, agriculture, tourism and industry, according to PMO.
Modi, on the occasion, released ‘Golden Footprints’, a commemorative volume chronicling NEC’s contribution towards the development of the northeast over the last 50 years, according to an official statement. A short film on NEC’s journey of 50 years was also screened on the occasion
Later at a public function, Modi also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple projects worth over Rs 2,450 crores. In a step to further boost telecom connectivity in the region, he dedicated to the nation 4G mobile towers, of which more than 320 have been completed and around 890 are under construction.
Modi also inaugurated the new campus of IIM Shillong at Umsawli, besides several other development initiatives, including four road projects across the three states of Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
A spawn laboratory at the Mushroom Development Centre and an integrated beekeeping development centre were also inaugurated by him in Meghalaya, besides 21 Hindi libraries in Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Assam, the PMO said.
PM Modi In Tripura
In Tripura, PM Modi will launch projects worth over Rs 4,350 crores. He will launch the “Grih Pravesh” programme for more than two lakh beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban and Rural – schemes in Agartala.
The PMO noted that Modi has focussed on ensuring that everyone has a house of their own. In a key step towards this, he will be launching the ‘Grih Pravesh’ programme. These houses developed at a cost of over Rs 3,400 crores will cover over two lakh beneficiaries.
With a focus on improving road connectivity, the prime minister will inaugurate a project for widening of the Agartala bypass (Khayerpur-Amtali) NH-08, which will help ease traffic congestion in Agartala city, it said.
He will also lay the foundation stones for 32 roads of more than 230 kilometres in length under the PMGSY III (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana) and for improvement of 112 roads covering a distance of over 540 kilometres.
The State Institute of Hotel Management at Anandnagar and Agartala Government Dental College will also be inaugurated by him.
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