Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched schemes and projects worth ₹21,000 crore in his home State of Gujarat that goes to Assembly polls in six months.
In his fifth visit to the State since March, the PM laid foundation stones for projects of the Indian Railways in Vadodara worth more than ₹16,000 crore, which includes a new 357-km long Palanpur-Madar section of a dedicated freight corridor (DFC) track.
He laid foundation stones for the redevelopment of Surat, Udhna, Somnath and Sabarmati railway stations in the State.
The PM dedicated 138,000 houses worth ₹1,800 crore in urban areas and ₹1,530 crore in rural areas, to be built as part of Pradhan Mantri Avas Yojna (PMAY) scheme.
Additionally, he laid the foundation stone for a new campus of the Gujarat Central University near Vadodara. The new campus of the Central University will be constructed at a cost of around ₹425 crore and will be able to enrol over 2,500 additional number of students per year. Currently, Gujarat Central University functions from a temporary campus in Gandhinagar.
Programmes for women’s welfare
Ahead of the Assembly polls, PM also launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Matrushakti Yojana’ nutrition scheme for pregnant and lactating mothers.
With an outlay of ₹800 crore, the scheme will see a monthly supply of 2 kg of chickpeas, 1 kg of yellow toor dal and 1 kg of edible oil free of cost from Anganwadi Centres for three years. This scheme was announced in the budget presented in the State Assembly for the year 2022-2023.
“We have created many new programmes by taking into account all the stages of a woman’s life cycle. Making the lives of women easier, reducing their troubles and giving them opportunities to move ahead - these are some of the topmost priorities of our government,” the Prime Minister said, addressing a convention of women in Vadodara.
He added that nutritional deficiency was a big challenge in Gujarat when he took over as CM in 2001 and since then, the State Government had launched many schemes to address the issue and help women in improving their nutritional values.
Poshan Sudha Yojana, another programme that addresses the nutritional needs of pregnant women, has been expanded to all tribal-dominated areas of Gujarat, under which around 1.36 lakh tribal women will benefit on a monthly basis.
He also talked about sickle cell anaemia prevalent among tribal population in the State and how the past governments had remained indifferent to it. He then spoke about the special campaign launched in the State, under which tribals got tested and the disease eradicated.
During his speech, the PM also touched upon the various schemes and welfare programs launched that catered to different segments of society.
Ahead of the Assembly polls, PM has been crisscrossing the State visiting it almost once a month. So far, he has visited the State five times, during which he attended almost a dozen events ranging from inaugurating temples to medical centres and launching new projects and development works in different regions of the State.
Besides, via videoconferencing, he has launched projects and attended around a dozen social events in the State since March this year.
