Ahmedabad, October 24, 2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three key projects in Gujarat -- the Kisan Suryoday Yojana for farmers, a Paediatric Heart Hospital in Ahmedabad and ropeway at Girnar through video conferencing from New Delhi today.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said Gujarat has always been an exemplary model for the determination and dedication of the common man. The Sujalam-Suphalam and Sauni scheme and the Kisan Suryodaya Yojana Gujarat have set milestones in meeting the needs of the farmers.

The work done in for years in the field of electricity has become the basis of this scheme. From power generation to transmission all the works were carried out in mission mode to improve the capacity in the state, he said.

Modi said that, in 2010, when the Solar Power Plant was inaugurated in Patan, nobody could have imagined that India would show the world the path for "One Sun, One World, One Grid". He appreciated the fact that India has now reached the fifth position in the world in the last few years in solar power and was advancing fast.

On Kisan Suryodaya Yojana the Prime Minister said that, earlier most of the farmers got power for irrigation in the night only and had to stay awake all night. In Girnar and Junagadh, the farmers also faced the problems of wild animals. Under the Kisan Suryodaya Yojana, the farmers will get three-phase power supply from 5 AM to 9 PM and hat will bring a new dawn in their lives.

He lauded the efforts of the Gujarat government for preparing a completely new capacity of transmission, without affecting the other existing systems. Under this scheme, about 3,500 circuit kilometres of new transmission lines will be laid in the next 2-3 years and will be implemented in more than a thousand villages in the coming days and most of these villages are in tribal dominated areas.

He said it will change the lives of lakhs of farmers when the entire state gets power supply through this scheme. He urged the administration to work continuously in line with the changing times to help the farmers in doubling their income, by reducing their investment and overcoming their difficulties.

Modi listed the initiatives of the Government to double the income of the farmers like formation of thousands of FPOs, neem coating urea, Soil Health Cards and launching of many new initiatives. He said under the KUSUM Yojana, FPOs, Panchayats and all such organizations were assisted in setting up small solar plants on barren lands and that irrigation pumps of farmers are also connected to the solar energy. The electricity generated from this will be used by the farmers for their irrigation and they can sell the surplus power.

Gujarat has also done commendable work in the field of irrigation and drinking water. In the past, people used to face great hardships just to get water and today water has reached those districts. Projects like the Sardar Sarovar project and water grids helped water reach the drought-hit regions of Gujarat, he said.

He pointed out that 80% of the households in Gujarat have piped drinking water and soon it will be the state where every house will have piped drinking water. He urged the farmers to reiterate the mantra of "Per Drop More Crop" as Kisan Suryodaya Yojana is being inaugurated.

It will provide electricity during the day that would help the farmers in setting up micro-irrigation and Kisan Suryodaya Yojana would help in the expansion of micro-irrigation in the state.

Referring to the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre launched today, he said it was one of the few hospitals in the country that has a world-class infrastructure as well as a modern health facility. It would now be India's largest cardiac hospital. Gujarat had carried out commendable work with setting up a network of modern hospitals, medical colleges and connecting every village with better health facilities.

About 21 lakh people of Gujarat have received free treatment under Ayushman Bharat scheme. More than 525 Jan Aushadi Kendras offering low-cost medicines have been opened in Gujarat and, about Rs 100 crore has been spent to provide health facilities to the common people, he said.

The Prime Minister said Girnar mountain was a noted pilgrim spot, being the abode of Ma Ambe. It has Gorakhnath peak, Guru Dattatreya peak and a Jain temple. With the inauguration of the world-class ropeway more and more devotees and tourists will be able to visit. This would be the fourth ropeway in Gujarat after Banaskantha, Pavagadh and Satpura.

He said the ropeway would provide job opportunities and economic opportunities to the people. He highlighted the hardships people face when such schemes that provide so much convenience to the people, remain stuck in the red tape for so long. He listed the economic benefits accruing to the locals by developing tourist sites.

He listed sites like Shivarajpur beach which has got blue flag certification and Statue of Unity which provides a lot of employment opportunities to the locals. He cited an example of Kankaria Lake in Ahmedabad where nobody used to go. And after renovation, yearly about 75 lakh people are visiting the lake and it has also become a source of revenue to many people.

Modi said tourism is one sector which with little investment provides many job opportunities. He urged the people of Gujarat and those spread across the world to become its ambassadors to canvas for the various tourist destinations in Gujarat and help in its progress.

NNN

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IANS

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