Shinde says Maha ranks first in FDI, will increase employment

Shinde’s Independence Day speech after the flag-hoisting at Mantralaya was a blend of the many ‘firsts’ of Maharashtra and fulsome praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bringing up the one-rupee crop insurance scheme for farmers, he said the state ranked first in that too

MUMBAI: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said that Maharashtra now ranked first in the country in terms of foreign direct investment and this would increase employment to a great extent. “The state will also remain number one in sectors such as agriculture, education, energy, infrastructure, health and tourism,” he declared.

Mumbai, Aug 15 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde salutes the National flag after hoisting it on the 77th Independence Day, in Mumbai on Tuesday. (ANI Photo) (DeepaK Salvi)

Shinde’s Independence Day speech after the flag-hoisting at Mantralaya was a blend of the many ‘firsts’ of Maharashtra and fulsome praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bringing up the one-rupee crop insurance scheme for farmers, he said the state ranked first in that too. “For the first time in the history of the country, one and a half crore farmers have benefited from this scheme,” he said. “We have gone beyond regular measures to help farmers affected by natural calamities. So far, our government has given more than twelve and a half thousand crore rupees to victims.”

The CM said that the problems of the lowest segment of society needed to be solved on priority so that they could “experience real freedom and development”. Declaring that the state government’s intention was to take government schemes to people at the grassroots level, he lauded Modi’s campaign ‘Meri Mati Mera Desh’ (My Soil My Country), saying it was a reminder of this responsibility. “On the occasion of Independence Day, we should follow these responsibilities and support the campaign on a large scale,” he said.

Shinde claimed that in the last five years, Modi had lifted 13.5 crore people above the poverty line and given “new strength” to India’s poor. “Like the Centre, we have been able to work for the development and progress of the state for the past year,” he said. “We are writing a new chapter of coordination between the state and central governments.”

Shinde dwelled at length on his government’s achievements, from the ₹6,000 per annum which it had added to the ₹6,000 of the Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana, on account of which farmers were getting ₹12,000 every year. He said that work on 35 stalled water resources projects had been speeded up and nearly eight lakh hectares of land would come under irrigation because of this. The Maharashtra government had also restarted the Jalyukta Shivar scheme, a water conservation project, he added, and was undertaking an interlinking project to divert the water of Konkan’s rivers flowing into the sea.

Chief Justice of the Bombay high court Devendra Kumar Upadhyay, chief secretary Manoj Saunik, director-general of police Rajnish Seth and senior bureaucrats attended the function.

In another function held in the afternoon, the CM said that virtual classrooms would now be started in all the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) of the state as a part of the Skill India and digital initiative of Narendra Modi. He inaugurated 75 virtual classrooms created in industrial training institutes through the directorate of vocational education and training at the Sahyadri state guesthouse.