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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Maharaja Suheldev Memorial and development work of Chittaura Lake at Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh via video conference on February 16, 2021.The Prime Minister also inaugurated the medical College building named after Maharaja Suheldev. Governor and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said history of India is not only the history written by colonial powers or those with colonial mindset. Indian History is what has been nurtured by the common people in their folklore and taken forward by the generations. He lamented the fact that the people who sacrificed their all for India and Indianness have not been given their due importance. These irregularities and injustice against the makers of Indian history by the writers of Indian history are now being corrected as we are entering the 75th year of our Independence and remembering their contribution becomes all the more important, said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister cited examples of celebrating the contribution of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose from Red Fort to Andaman Nicobar, Sardar Patel in Statue of Unity and Baba Saheb Ambedkar through Panch Teerth. “There are innumerable personalities who were not recognized due to various reasons. Can we forget what happened with the bravehearts of Chauri Chaura ?” asked the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister said that Maharaja Suheldev’s contribution to protect Indianness was similarly ignored. Maharaja Suheldev has been kept alive in the hearts of people by the folklore of Awadh, Tarai and Poorvanchal despite being ignored by the textbooks. The Prime Minister recalled his contribution as a sensitive and development oriented ruler. The Prime Minister expressed the hope that the memorial for Maharaja Suheldev, will inspire the generations to come and said that with establishment of the medical college and expansion of the health facilities, will make life for people in this aspirational district and nearby areas better. The Prime Minister had released a stamp commemorating Maharaja Suheldev two years ago.
Shri Modi greeted people on the occasion of Basant Panchami and said this Basant has brought new hope for India, leaving behind the despondency of pandemic. He wished that Maa Sarawasti bless the knowledge and science of India and every countryman who is involved in nation-building through research and innovation.
The Prime Minister said the biggest goal of the monuments related to history, faith and spirituality, built in the last few years is to promote tourism. He added that Uttar Pradesh is also rich in both tourism and pilgrimage and its possibilities are immense. Ramayana circuits, Spiritual circuits, Buddhist circuits are being developed at sites related to the life of Lord Rama, Shri Krishna and Buddha, such as Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Mathura, Vrindavan, Govardhan, Kushinagar, Shravasti etc for developing tourism in Uttar Pradesh. He said these efforts have started showing results and now Uttar Pradesh attracts the maximum number of tourists from other states. UP has also come in the top three states of the country in attracting foreign tourists.
The Prime Minister remarked that along with the facilities required for tourists modern connectivity is also being enhanced in Uttar Pradesh. He added that Ayodhya Airport and Kushinagar International Airport will prove to be very useful for tourists, both domestic and foreign in future. Work is underway at a dozen small and large airports in Uttar Pradesh, many of which are in Purvanchal itself.
The Prime Minister said modern and wide roads such as Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway, Ganga Expressway, Gorakhpur Link Expressway, Ballia Link Expressway are being constructed all over Uttar Pradesh and is in a way the beginning of modern infrastructure of modern UP. He said Uttar Pradesh is the junction of two large Dedicated Freight Corridors. Creation of modern Infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh has excited the investors to set up industries in Uttar Pradesh. With this, better opportunities are being created both for the industries as well as for the youth.
The Prime Minister lauded the handling of Corona by the Uttar Pradesh Government. He also praised the state Government for providing employment to the returned workers.He said, the efforts of UP in the last 3 – 4 years have contributed a lot against Corona also. The problem of meningitis got reduced substantially in Purvanchal due to the efforts of the state Government. The Prime Minister said that the number of medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh has risen from 14 to 24 in the last six years. Also, AIIMS work is going on in Gorakhpur and Bareilly. Apart from these, 22 new medical colleges are being built.The facility of modern cancer hospitals in Varanasi is also being provided to Purvanchal. UP Jal Jeevan Mission i.e. doing water for every household is also doing laudable work.When pure drinking water reaches home, it will reduce many diseases in the same way, said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister said in Uttar Pradesh, the villages, poor and farmers are benefiting directly from the improved power, water, roads and health facilities. He added through the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, money has been deposited directly in the bank accounts of about 2.5 crore farmer families of Uttar Pradesh, who were once forced to take loans from others even to buy a sack of fertilizer. He said here farmers had to wake up overnight to use electricity for irrigation and added that his Government has removed such problems by improving power supply.
The Prime Minister said the formation of farmer producer organizations (FPOs) is very important to consolidate the farm lands and thereby address the issue of shrinking cultivation area per farmer. He added when 500 farmer families having 1 – 2 bighas get organized they will be more powerful than 500 – 1000 bigha farmers. Similarly, small farmers associated with vegetables, fruits, milk, fish and many such businesses are now being connected to big markets through Kisan Rail. He said the new agricultural reforms introduced recently will also benefit the small and marginal farmers and positive feedback on these farm laws is pouring from across the country.
The Prime Minister said that all types of misinformation was spread against the agriculture laws. He said that those who enacted laws to call foreign companies in the country are scaring farmers with indian companies. These lies and propaganda stand exposed. After the enactment of new laws, paddy procurement was doubled in Uttar Pradesh as compared to last year. Yogi Government has already released Rs 1 lakh crore to the sugarcane farmers. The Center has also given thousands of crores of rupees to the State Governments to enable sugar mills to pay the farmers. The Uttar Pradesh Government will continue to strive to ensure that sugarcane farmers are paid on time, he said.
The Prime Minister assured that the government is making every possible effort to improve the life of the village and the farmer. He said the Swamitva scheme will get rid of the possibility of illegal occupation of a villager’s house. Under this scheme, surveys are being conducted through drones in about 50 districts of UP these days. Drone survey work has been completed in about 12 thousand villages and so far more than 2 lakh families have got the property card and these families are now free from all kinds of fears, said the Prime Minister.
Therefore, The Prime Minister asserted, how can anyone believe the canard of usurping the farmer’s land through agriculture reform laws. Our goal is to make every citizen empowered, our pledge is to make the country aatmnirbhar and we are dedicated to this task. The Prime Minister concluded with a chaupai from Goswami Tulsidas’s Ramcharitramanas which meant that any task undertaken with right intention and Lord Ram in one’s heart is bound to be successful.