Farmers priority for govt: PM
GUWAHATI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented on Friday his government’s three-year report card, listing several achievements on the social and economic fronts, including transformation of the country’s agriculture sector, which he said will double farmers’ income by 2022.
Modi inaugurated the country’s longest bridge over the Lohit, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, at the eastern end of Assam, besides laying the foundation stone of an agriculture research institute and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. “Northeast was known as NE, but from now on it will be known as new economy, new energy, new empowerment... in a way, it will become a new engine for India’s growth,” Modi said in Gogamukh, more than 500 km from Guwahati.
Modi’s choice of Assam to mark three years of the NDA government is being seen as the BJP’s push to control the region where it is in power in four states. The party is hoping to oust the Congress in Meghalaya and the Left Front in Tripura, when the two states go to polls this year.
He announced naming the Dhola-Sadiya bridge -- spanning 9.15 km -- after balladeer Bhupen Hazarika, known as the Bard of Brahmaputra, and loved across the region for his songs promoting unity among communities.
The bridge reduces travel time from Assam to Arunachal Pradesh by nearly 5 hours, which will speed up movement of troops and battle tanks closer to the border with China.
“Northeast has the potential to fulfill our dream of taking India to newer heights of development. That’s the reason why the region is in focus of our development initiatives,” Modi said after inaugurating the bridge at Dhola.
Addressing a public rally in Guwahati, Modi said farmers were crucial to his vision of a new India where no area will remain undeveloped.
The focus on farmers follows criticism from the opposition as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – the ideological mentor of the BJP – which had questioned the government’s economic policies after a string of farmer suicides.
THE FOCUS ON FARMERS FOLLOWS CRITICISM FROM THE OPPOSITION AS WELL AS THE RSS WHICH HAD QUESTIONED GOVT’S ECONOMIC POLICIES
“We need the cooperation for farmers for ensuring maximum yield through optimum utilisation of water and technological assistance,” he said. “We need a new, modern India in 2022, when we will be observing 75 years of the country’s freedom.”
The Prime Minister also vowed to intensify the battle against black money “even if I have to pay a heavy price for it”.
He said demonetisation was a tough decision but the trust of voters made it possible.
“This could have caused trouble for us, but the people stood by us because they believed in our honesty. Demonetisation saw 90 lakh Indians coming forward to disclose their income and pay tax,” he said.
Several measures taken by the government, Modi said, have helped the right people get the benefits of pro-poor schemes.
“We have shown we can work on a big scale, as was evident by the launching of 104 satellites on a single day.
I assure you, from the land of Kamakhya, that we will do justice to the faith you have kept on us,” he said.
The Congress, however, critised the government’s threeyear tenure, saying its last highlight was “media management, propaganda, platitudes and acronyms”.
“The future of this country is dark from the economic point of view and from the social point of view. The country had never been so undivided. The country is on the verge of seeing strife in the future,” senior party leader Kamal Nath said in Delhi.