Empowerment Of Women Key To Odisha’s Progress; Says PM Modi & Hails Mohan Majhi As ‘Popular’ CM

Bhubaneswar: Describing empowerment of women as the key mantra for Odisha’s development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted that the double-engine government of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will ensure rapid growth of the state.

Addressing a massive gathering while launching the ambitious Subhadra Yojana of the Odisha government, the Prime Minister said the new BJP government in the state has gifted the scheme to the women which will benefit over one crore beneficiaries. Under the scheme, the women beneficiaries will get financial assistance of Rs 50000 in instalments, he said at the mega event held at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar.

Significantly, the PM showered praise on Chief Minister Mohan Majhi and his team. While hailing Majhi as a ‘popular’ CM, Modi also praised the team of Ministers for fulfilling the pledges made during elections and meeting people to know their grievances.

With the above words, PM perhaps sent out an important message to endorse the steps taken by the Mohan Majhi government in last 98 days.

Pointing out that any nation moves faster only when participation of half of its population that is the women power’s is equal, Modi said the advancement of women and their empowerment will be the key to Odisha’s development.

Taking a leaf out of the folklore of Odisha, Modi said the presence of Goddess Subhadra along with Lord Jagannath here tells us about women empowerment. “I bow down to all the mothers, sisters and daughters in the form of Goddess Subhadra”, the PM said.

Noting that this was his first visit to Odisha after the new BJP government had come to power, in whose oath-taking ceremony he had participated, Modi reminded the people that during the election campaign he had said that if a “double-engine” government came into force, then Odisha will propel towards progress and prosperity.

Modi expressed confidence that the dreams of various sections of the society ranging from villagers, downtrodden, Dalits, tribal, women, youth, middle-class families would now be fulfilled. He was happy that the promises made were being fulfilled at a fast pace.

Listing the promises fulfilled so far, he said all the four doors of the Shree Jagannatha temple in Puri were thrown open to the public, the Ratna Bhandar of the temple was also opened. Modi added that the BJP Government was striving for the service of the people of Odisha and expressed happiness that the government itself was going to the people to ensure their issues are resolved.

The Prime Minister said today is special as the present government is completing 100 days today. During this time, the Prime Minister said, major decisions have been taken for the welfare of the poor, farmers, youth and women of India.

Listing the achievements of the past 100 days, the PM highlighted the decision to build three crore pucca houses for the poor, the announcement of a PM package worth Rs 2 lakh crore for the youth — where the government would cover the first salary of their first job in private companies, the addition of 75,000 new seats in medical colleges and the approval to connect 25,000 villages with pucca roads. Odisha will benefit immensely from these, he said.

The Prime Minister further informed that the budget allocation for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has almost been doubled, a special project for the development of around 60,000 tribal villages announced, a new pension scheme for government employees introduced and income tax for professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs reduced.

The Prime Minister informed that the nation has witnessed the creation of more than 11 lakh Lakhpati Didis, major decisions have been taken for oilseed and onion farmers, import duty on oils produced abroad has been increased to encourage Indian farmers, export duty on Basmati rice has been reduced to encourage exports, MSP has been increased on crops thereby benefiting crores of farmers by about Rs 2 lakh crore. “Numerous significant steps have been taken for everyone’s benefit in the last 100 days”, PM Modi exclaimed.

The Prime Minister expressed happiness that the new BJP government has given the gift of Subhadra Yojana to the mothers and sisters of Odisha as part of their initial decisions. Modi said that under the scheme, women will be given a total amount of Rs 50,000 which would be directly credited to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. He added that the scheme was also linked to the pilot project of RBI’s digital currency. Modi congratulated the women of Odisha for joining this first of its kind digital currency scheme in the country.

The Prime Minister spoke about the organisation of many yatras across the state so that scheme reaches every mother, sister and daughter of Odisha. He said that women are being made aware of all the information related to the scheme. He highlighted that many workers from the present dispensation in the state are also engaging in this service with full vigour and congratulated the government, the administration as well as MLAs, MPs and party workers for this public awareness.

“Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is a reflection of women empowerment in India”, PM Modi remarked, noting that the property is now being registered in the name of women. He highlighted that almost 30 lakh families from across the country have performed Griha Pravesh today while 15 lakh new beneficiaries have been given approval letters today and funds have been transferred to the bank accounts of more than 10 lakh beneficiaries in a short time of 100 days. “We have done this auspicious work from the holy land of Odisha and a large number of poor families of Odisha are also included in this”, PM Modi added.

Remarking that Odisha has everything that is required for a developed state, Modi said that the talent of its youth, the strength of women, natural resources, opportunities for industries, immense possibilities of tourism were all present. He added that in the last 10 years, while being in the Centre, the government had always looked at Odisha as a major priority.

The Prime Minister added that Odisha was today getting thrice the funds from the center as compared to 10 years ago. He also expressed happiness on the implementation of schemes which earlier never saw the light of the day.

Speaking of the Ayushman Yojana, the Prime Minister underlined that the people of Odisha will also be benefited by free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh while senior citizens above 70 years of age would be treated for free up to Rs 5 lakh, irrespective of income levels. He added that “A promise was made by Modi during the Lok Sabha elections and Modi has fulfilled his guarantee”.

The Prime Minister underlined that dalits, deprived and tribal communities living in Odisha are the biggest beneficiaries of the campaign against poverty. Be it creating a separate ministry for the welfare of the tribal community, giving the tribal community rights over their roots, forests and land, giving education and employment opportunities to tribal youth or making a tribal woman from Odisha the honorable President of the country, the Prime Minister emphasized that the government has carried out such tasks for the first time.

PM Modi pointed out that there were many tribal areas and groups in Odisha that were deprived of development for many generations. He spoke about the PM Janman Yojana to support the most backward among tribes and informed that 13 such tribes have been identified in Odisha. Under the Janman Yojana, Prime Minister Modi explained, the government is providing the benefits of development schemes to all these communities. A campaign is also being run to free the tribal areas from sickle cell anaemia. In the last 3 months, more than 13 lakh people have been screened under this campaign, he added.

“India today is focussing on the preservation of traditional skills in an unprecedented way”, the Prime Minister said noting that the nation has had people engaging in work like blacksmiths, potters, goldsmiths and sculptors for hundreds and thousands of years. He said that Vishwakarma Yojana was started last year on Vishwakarma Jayanti where the government is spending Rs 13,000 crore on this scheme. So far, 20 lakh people have registered and are being trained under this scheme. He also touched upon the financial assistance worth thousands of rupees to purchase modern tools and low-interest loans from banks without a guarantee..

Highlighting the long coastline of Odisha, laden with immense mineral and natural wealth, Shri Modi remarked that these resources should be made the strength of Odisha.

He added that “In the next 5 years, we have to take Odisha’s road and rail connectivity to new heights”. Speaking of the newly inaugurated rail and road related projects today, Modi said that he had the privilege of dedicating the Lanjigarh Road-Ambodala-Doikalu railway line, Lakshmipur Road-Singaram-Tikri railway line, Dhenkanal-Sadashivpur-Hindol Road railway line to the country. He added that work was also started today to increase connectivity from Paradip port along with laying the foundation stone of the Jaipur-Nawarangpur new railway line.

Modi remarked that the new infrastructure projects will create a large number of new employment opportunities for the youth of Odisha. He added that work on Puri to Konark railway line and the high-tech ‘Namo Bharat Rapid Rail’ will also be started soon and the modern infrastructure will open new doors of possibilities for Odisha.

The Prime Minister expressed confidence in achieving many huge milestones to take Odisha and the country to new heights of success and asserted that the pace of development will only accelerate in the times to come.