Complete projects on war footing: Irani
RAEBARELI: Union textiles minister Smriti Irani on Friday exhorted the panchayat representatives to complete development works on a war footing.
Irani also addressed a panchayat representatives’ conference on the Mandi Samiti campus in Salon, which is part of Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s Amethi Lok Sabha constituency.
Describing panchayats as the cornstone of democracy which made the society strong, she exhorted the panchayat representatives to complete development works on a war footing.
She announced agro-based industries would be established under the auspices of Khadi Gramodyog in Salon to ensure that local potato farmers got good returns.
She said the government had provided over Rs 2 lakh crore to the panchayats of the country and much work had been done under the gram swaraj abhiyan.
The present government had completed 94% of the toilet construction work and over 1.60 lakh poor women were provided with free gas connections, she said.
Zila parishad chairman Awadhesh Singh, BJP MLAs Dal Bahdur Kori and Ram Naresh Rawat, MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh, BJP district president Ram Deo Pal and assistant director (information) Pramod Kumar also spoke at the conference.
Irani also visited the Modern Coach Factory (MCF) in Rae Bareli’s Lalganj where general manager Rajesh Agrawal made a brief presentation on the current activities and the plans of the unit. Lalganj is part of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency.
The minister was briefed on production augmentation of coaches, setting up of a facility for manufacturing aluminum coaches (500 coaches/year), manufacture of metro coaches, train sets and MEMUs (Mainline Electric Multiple Units or commuter rail system).
After the presentation, Irani also had a look at the manufacturing processes of coaches.
Irani was also the chief guest at the convocation of the National Institute of Fashion TechnologyRae Bareli.As many as 105 students received their graduation and post-graduation degrees in various courses, including accessories design, fashion design, leather design and master of fashion management.
The convocation was held at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT), Jais.