Modi unveils railway, NH projects worth over Rs 3,800 cr, launches Odisha’s Subhadra scheme

Bhubaneswar, Sep 17 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled railway and national highway projects worth over Rs 3,800 crore on Tuesday, marking 100 days of the NDA government 3.0.

Addressing a gathering here, Modi also launched the Odisha government’s ‘Subhadra Yojana’, a financial assistance scheme for women, while asserting that their empowerment will be the key to the state’s development.

Besides, he released the first instalment of assistance to nearly 10 lakh beneficiaries under PMAY-G across 14 states, took part in ‘Griha Pravesh’ celebrations for 26 lakh beneficiaries under the housing scheme, and launched Awaas+ 2024 App for a survey of additional households for the same programme.

PM Modi’s visit to Odisha on his 74th birthday would be the first after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on June 12.

“I am happy that the Odisha government started its major work by announcing Subhadra Yojana for women. Women’s empowerment will be the key to Odisha’s development,” he said

The Prime Minister noted that Odisha has everything that is required for a developed state. “It has a talent pool of youth, the strength of women, natural resources, opportunities for industries, immense possibilities of tourism,” Modi said.

While participating in the Griha Pravesh celebrations, Modi visited Sabar Sahi slum in Bhubaneswar where he interacted with the beneficiaries.

The PM inaugurated the homes of 20 beneficiaries under the PMAY there.

Accompanied by the chief minister, Modi visited the home of Antaryami Nayak, a beneficiary of the housing scheme, and savoured the traditional Odia sweet dish, ‘kheeri’, prepared at his residence.

Sharing his experience after he was offered ‘kheeri’ by a tribal family on the occasion of his birthday in Bhubaneswar, Modi said,

“When my mother was alive, I used to visit here and seek her blessing on my birthday. She used to give me jaggery. Today, I got the blessings of a tribal mother who offered me ‘kheeri’. The happiness of tribals gives me strength to work for them.”

The Odisha government’s Subhadra Yojana, billed as the largest programme for women, will cover more than 1 crore beneficiaries.

Under the scheme, Rs 10,000 will be provided to each beneficiary every year in two equal instalments for a period of five years.

After the launch, the prime minister initiated the fund transfer into the bank accounts of more than 10 lakh women.

He said that the promises made by the BJP during the elections were being fulfilled at a rapid pace.

Listing the promises fulfilled so far, he said all the four gates of the Jagannath temple in Puri were thrown open to the public and the 12th-century shrine’s Ratna Bhandar (treasury) was also reopened in July after 46 years for making an inventory of valuables and repairing of its structure.

Noting that Tuesday is special as the present NDA government at the Centre completed 100 days, the prime minister said several major decisions have been taken for the welfare of the poor, farmers, youth and women.

During these 100 days, decisions were taken to build 3 crore pucca houses for the poor, a PM package worth Rs 2 lakh crore for the youth, the addition of 75,000 seats in medical colleges and approval to connect 25,000 villages with pucca roads.

The prime minister also said that during the past three months, the government has made budget allocation for tribals has almost been doubled, a special project for the development of around 60,000 tribal villages announced, a new pension scheme for government employees introduced and income tax for professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs reduced.

This apart, several major decisions have been taken for oilseed and onion farmers, import duty on oil produced abroad has been increased to encourage Indian farmers, export duty on Basmati rice has been reduced to boost exports and MSP has been hiked on crops thereby benefiting farmers by about Rs 2 lakh crore.

Modi said that Odisha has always been a priority for the Centre in the last 10 years.

“Odisha now gets thrice the funds from the Centre as compared to those 10 years ago. People of Odisha will now get the benefit of Ayushman Yojana while citizens above 70 years would be treated for free up to Rs 5 lakh, irrespective of income levels,” he said.

The Prime Minister said Dalits, deprived and tribal communities living in Odisha are the biggest beneficiaries of the campaign against poverty.

A separate ministry was created for the welfare of the tribals, the community was given rights over their water, forests and land, a tribal woman from Odisha was made the country’s President, he said.

PM Modi claimed that many tribal areas and groups in Odisha were deprived of development for many generations.

He spoke about the PM Janman Yojana would support the most backward among tribes and 13 such communities have been identified in Odisha.

A campaign is also being run to free the tribal areas from sickle cell anaemia. In the last 3 months, more than 13 lakh people have been screened under this campaign, he added.

Modi said the state’s mineral and natural resources should be its strength. “In the next 5 years, we have to take Odisha’s road and rail connectivity to new heights,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that work on Puri to Konark railway line and the high-tech ‘Namo Bharat Rapid Rail’ will start soon and the modern infrastructure will open new doors of possibilities for Odisha.