Modi in Shillong: ‘Showed red card to hurdles in development in North-East’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the NDA government in Meghalaya is making sincere efforts to eliminate corruption, discrimination, violence and vote bank politics.
Addressing a public meeting on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the North East Council (NEC) in the Meghalaya capital Shillong, Modi used references to football to get his message across.
Football’s analogy
“When football fever is gripping us all, why not talk in football terminology? When someone goes against the sportsman spirit, they are shown a red card and sent out. Similarly, in the last eight years, we have shown a red card to several hurdles in developments of the northeast,” he said.
#WATCH | PM says, "…When football fever is gripping us all, why not talk in football terminology? When someone goes against the sportsman spirit, they're shown a red card & sent out. Similarly, in last 8 yrs, we've shown red card to several hurdles in development of northeast." pic.twitter.com/jF5x17QTv1
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2022
“We are making honest efforts to send out corruption, bias, nepotism, violence, stalling of projects, and vote bank politics. But you know that the roots of these diseases run deep. So, we all have to uproot it together,” Modi said.
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“We may be looking at today’s game in Qatar and looking at the foreign teams on the field. But I am confident of the youth of the country. So, I can confidently say that the day is not far when we will celebrate a similar festival in India and cheer for the Tiranga,” the PM added.
The PM also took credit for increasing air connectivity in the region. “Before 2014, only 900 flights a week were available in the northeast and now, over it’s up to 1,900 flights,” he said, adding that better air connectivity is helping the farmers of the North-East through Krishi Udan Yojana.
Green flag to projects
During his visit, the Prime Minister inaugurated and laid foundation stones for various projects worth Rs 2,450 crore in Shillong.
“We changed the priorities of the central government. Its positive impact is visible across the country. This year, the Centre is spending Rs 7 lakh crore just for infrastructure. Eight years back, this was less than even Rs 2 lakh crore. Seven decades after Independence, we reached only up to Rs 2 lakh crore,” Modi said.
Modi also dedicated to the nation 4G mobile towers, of which more than 320 have been completed and around 890 are under construction.
Road projects
Modi also inaugurated the New Campus of IIM Shillong at Umsawli and Shillong-Diengpasoh Road, which will provide better connectivity to the new Shillong satellite township and decongest Shillong, news agency ANI reported.
Four other road projects across three states — Meghalaya, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh — were also inaugurated by the Prime Minister. Modi laid the foundation stone of six road projects across the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura.
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From Shillong, the Prime Minister will go to Tripura’s Agartala where he is scheduled to address a public gathering at Swami Vivekananda ground on Sunday and inaugurate some projects, and lay foundation stones for a few other projects worth over ₹ 4,350 crore.
(With inputs from agencies)
