Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched schemes worth £2.1 billion in Gujarat, hardly six months away from assembly elections in his home state in December.
He laid the foundation stone for Railway projects worth more than £1.6 billion - works that include a new 357-km long Palanpur-Madar section of a dedicated freight corridor (DFC). He laid foundation stones for the redevelopment of Surat, Udhna, Somnath and Sabarmati railway stations.
Modi dedicated 138,000 houses worth £180 million in urban areas and £153 million in rural areas: they were constructed as part of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme.
He inaugurated schemes across verticals at a public meeting called 'Gujarat Gaurav Abhiyan' in Vadodara. The meeting also saw the launch of projects in railways, housing and education in central Gujarat.
Urban poor families got 750,000 houses and 450,000 middle class families got help in constructing homes from the central government, Modi told the meeting.
He launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Matrushakti Yojana’ nutrition scheme for pregnant and lactating mothers. With an outlay of £80 million, the scheme will see monthly supply of 2 kg of chickpeas, 1 kg of yellow split pigeon peas (toor dal) and 1 kg of edible oil free of cost from Anganwadi Centres for three years.
The Central University of Gujarat is also set to receive its own long pending permanent campus with Modi laying the foundation stone for the same in Kundhela village near Vadodara.
Women empowerment
Stressing that empowerment of women is necessary for speedy development of 21st century India, PM Modi said that making lives of women easier and providing them growth opportunities are among the top priorities of his government.
The PM, who was in Vadodara for the ‘Gujarat Gaurav Abhiyan’ programme organized at the Leprosy ground on Ajwa Road, said that Saturday was a day of ‘Matru Vandana’ for him.
“Today morning, I took the blessings of ‘janmdatri’ (referring to her mother Heeraba who entered 100th year of her life). Later, I got the blessings of Jagat Janani Maa Kaali (referring to Goddess Maa Kali at Pavagadh). And now, I have got opportunity to take blessings of this massive ‘Matru Shakti’,” said PM, after launching Mukhya Mantri Matrushakti Yojana and Poshan Sudha Yojana – targeted towards nutritional needs of pregnant women.
