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‘Conspiracy to malign image, Indian tea not spared either’: PM Modi in Assam
Reaching out to tea workers, PM Modi asked them whether they would support such an attack on the tea industry or those who are silent about such attacks.
An international conspiracy is being hatched to malign the country's image, and the planners have not spared the Indian tea either, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi citing “some documents” on Sunday.
“I would like to mention conspiracies that are being hatched against the country these days. In order to malign the country's im, the conspirators have stooped to such a level that they are not even sparing Indian tea,” PM Modi said in his address at Dhekiajuli in poll-bound Assam.
Reaching out to tea workers, PM Modi asked them whether they would support such an attack on the tea industry or those who are silent about such attacks. The PM blamed opposition parties for remaining silent on this issue.
“You may have heard in the news about how these conspirators are planning to tarnish the image of Indian tea industry in the world in a planned manner. Some documents have been found which reveal that some international powers are attempting to attack the Indian tea industry’s identity,” he added.
Speaking about schemes for tea workers launched by the Assam government, the PM mentioned about transfer of ₹3,000 each to bank accounts of nearly 7,50,000 bank accounts of tea garden workers.
“I want to tell these conspirators from Assam’s soil that the country will never allow their plans to be successful. Our tea workers will win this fight as these attacks are not capable of countering the hard work of our tea workers,” he said.
He also highlighted the ₹1,000 crore earmarked for tea-workers of Assam and West Bengal in this year’s union budget.
“The tea industry is one of the main reasons for Assam’s prosperity. The red tea of Sonitpur is known for its unique flavour and who better than me would know its quality. That’s why I have always associated the welfare of tea garden workers with the overall progress of Assam,” said Modi.
In his second visit in a fortnight to Assam, the PM launched an ambitious road network project and laid the foundation of two medical colleges.
To be constructed at a total cost of ₹1122 crore, the medical colleges at Biswanath and Charaideo districts will have 100 MBBS seats and 500-bed hospitals.
Modelled on the lines of Bharat Mala, the Asom Mala project is aimed at improving 890 km state highways.
“Earlier good healthcare was a dream. People in Assam had to travel for hours, wait endlessly and face a lot of hardships. But that has changed in the past five years and it is visible,” said Modi.
“Till 2016, the state had just six medical colleges. But in the past five years, six new medical colleges have come up. The two new medical colleges will not only provide excellent healthcare but in coming years but thousands of new doctors will emerge from the region itself,” he added.
PM Modi mentioned that till 2016, every year 700 MBBS doctors used to pass out of the medical colleges in Assam, but with setting up of new colleges now 1,600 new doctors would join the healthcare sector annually.
“I have a dream that each state should have a medical and technical college where education is imparted in the mother tongue of the region. Our government in Assam will set up such colleges,” he said.
The PM stated that setting up of a unit of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on the outskirts of Guwahati would bring relief to people in Assam and northeast. He blamed previous governments in the region for not taking up such ventures in the healthcare sector.
During his first visit to Sivasagar on January 23 the PM gave land allotment certificates to 1,06,000 landless families.
Assembly election in Assam is due in April-May and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition is attempting another term in power by announcing and launching several major schemes.
A sum of ₹50,000 each as seed money to nearly 2,00,000 youths to start business ventures, appointment of nearly 30,000 teachers, transfer of ₹3,000 each to bank accounts of nearly 8,00,000 tea garden workers and ₹830 every month to nearly 22 lakh families are some of the initiatives.
