PM lays foundation stones of vital schemes worth over Rs 4,000 crore

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here from Lilabari Airport in Assam’s North Lakhimpur district in an Army chopper, inaugurated several projects and laid foundation stones of many vital schemes here worth over Rs 4,000 crore.

Addressing a function at Indira Gandhi Park here, the Prime Minister said his government was giving a lot of importance to improve connectivity in the state.

“Our government is giving importance to improve the highway, railway, airway and power situation of Arunachal Pradesh which was neglected by the previous governments.

“In the past 55 months, I have paid several visits to the State and today inaugurated and laid foundation of projects worth over Rs 4,000 crore,” he said. The Prime Minister said work is going on for projects worth Rs 13,000 crore in the State.

“Compare us with the previous government and see the difference,” he told the audience.

Modi added that his government has allocated Rs 44,000 crore for the region which is double of the previous UPA government. Launching a scathing attack on Opposition Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday alleged that the previous regime neglected the Northeast region and even did not care about youth and border security.

“The previous governments did not care about youth and border security which we did and there is no dearth of fund or determination for the region,” he said.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh. It will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang Valley for civilians as well as security forces throughout the year. The tunnel will reduce travel time to Tawang by an hour and boost tourism and related economic activities in the region.

He inaugurated the new Doordarshan 24-hours channel for Arunachal Pradesh, DD Arun Prabha. The channel will be the 24th channel operated by Doordarshan. The Prime Minister also dedicated to the nation the 110 MW Pare Hydroelectric Plant.

The hydroelectric project constructed by NEEPCO will harness hydro-power potential of the river Pare and provide cheap hydroelectric power to the North Eastern States, thereby improving power availability in the region.

Modi also declared 100 per cent household electrification in Arunachal Pradesh under Saubhagya Scheme.

He also laid the foundation stone for a permanent campus of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) at Jote, near here. The Prime Minister inaugurated 50 health and wellness centres in the State also through remote at the function at IG Park here.

Terming Arunachal as ‘pride’ of the country, Modi said that the State is the gateway of the country as it guards the frontier and it is the duty of the government to develop the State at any cost.

“Arunachal is a symbol of faith for the country as it gives us strength. The people greet each other with ‘Jai Hind’, and I salute the people for their patriotism,” the Prime Minister said, adding, “India will develop only if Arunachal and entire Northeast develops.”

Modi said projects worth over 13,000 crore in various sector are going on in the State and the development trajectory of the State is taking at a faster pace with NDA and Pema Khandu-led BJP government in the state are working in close coordination.

He said, road projects worth 50,000 crore are going on in the State which will connect about 1000 villages.

“In several places of the State, survey is going on for construction of railway lines out of which survey in three places were completed,” the prime minister said adding, the government is also laying stress on power generation and accordingly sanctioned an amount of Rs 3000 crore to erect transmission lines to be connected in the grid.

Modi also laid the stones of seven 132/33 KV and 24 33/11 KV electric substations under Comprehensive Scheme.

On the new DD channel Arun Prabha, Modi exuded hope that the channel would be the medium to reflect Arunachal’s rich cultural diversity to the outside world. He said, under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, 50 health and wellness centres have been inaugurated which would provide medical care to the poor and needy especially pregnant women. “In this year budget we have introduced a new scheme - PM Kishan Sanman Nidhi, under which an amount of Rs 6000 will be deposited to the account of the farmers per year who have only five acres of cultivable land in order to support them,” the Prime Minister said and assured all possible support to the State.

This is the third visit of the Prime Minister to this Himalayan State. However, he visited the State twice during 2014 for election campaign.

Also Read: Arunachal News