Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the Saryu Canal National Project in poll-bound eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur district and invited farmers to a join a mega programme on “natural farming” on December 16.
Addressing a rally in Balrampur after inaugurating the ₹9,800-crore project, aimed at providing assured water for irrigation to over 1.4 million hectares and benefit about 2.9 million farmers, Modi hit out at previous governments in the state for “delaying projects” and “wasting public money”.
“Most painful is the waste and misuse of the country’s money, time and resources and its humiliation. This thinking is the biggest hurdle in the balanced development of the country and this thinking has also stalled the Saryu Nahar project. All the citizens of the country should understand that when the work on this project was started its cost was under ₹100 crore and now it is about ₹10,000 crore. This money was your hard-earned money,” the prime minister told the gathering.
He added: “We never forget anyone who offers water to quench people’s thirst and I am sure that now that your parched fields will get water, your blessings will help us work with greater enthusiasm.”
{{/usCountry}}He added: “We never forget anyone who offers water to quench people’s thirst and I am sure that now that your parched fields will get water, your blessings will help us work with greater enthusiasm.”
{{/usCountry}}The PM said a big event on natural farming will be organised on December 16, adding that it saves earth and water and the crop produced through it is also better. “I invite farmers across the country for a mega farmers’ programme on natural farming on December 16. Here, you will learn about zero budget farming, which saves water and gives better yield too,” he added.
Taking a jibe at Samajwadi Party (SP) president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav — who has often claimed that the development works started by his government were being projected as the achievements of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Uttar Pradesh — Modi said he was waiting if anyone would claim the credit for the Saryu nahar project.
“When I started from Delhi, I was waiting for someone to say that he had cut the ribbon of this project and started this scheme. This is the habit of some people, maybe in their childhood they had cut its ribbon,” he said, without taking any names.
“For some people cutting ribbon is the priority while for us completing schemes in time is the priority. In 2014 when I came to power, I was amazed to see that 99 irrigation projects were lying (incomplete) for decades in the country,” Modi added.
Modi’s remark came hours after Akhilesh Yadav attacked the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state for “taking credit” for other’s work.
“Three-fourth of the Saryu canal project was completed during the SP regime and it took the BJP government in the state five years to finish the remainder of work. In 2022, the SP era will return and the state will prosper with canals of development,” Yadav tweeted in Hindi:
As part of the Saryu canal irrigation project, five rivers — Ghaghara, Saryu, Rapti, Banganga and Rohini — and 900 tributaries have been interlinked. The project aims at helping farmers in 6,200 villages of nine eastern UP districts, including Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur and Maharajganj.
Reiterating his party’s ‘soch imaandar, kaam damdaar’ (honest intentions and great work) election pitch in UP, which will go to polls in February-March next year, Modi highlighted the importance of “double engine” government (same party in power at the Centre and in the state). Speaking about the ₹44,605 crore Ken-Betwa river-linking project, Modi said it would help address the water crisis in Bundelkhand.
The Union cabinet approved the Ken-Betwa river-linking project on December 8.
He also listed some of his government’s achievements, including the PM Kisan Nidhi scheme, under which all farmers get up to ₹6,000 per year as minimum income support. The PM also said that several bio-fuel factories were being set up in Uttar Pradesh.
“In Budaun and Gorakhpur, big bio-fuel complexes are being set up. In nearby Gonda, a big plant of ethanol is being set up. UP is becoming a leader in making ethanol from sugarcane and in the past four-and-a-half years, ₹12,500 crore worth of ethanol has been purchased from the state. The Yogi (Adityanath) government has also speeded up clearing sugarcane dues of farmers. Under previous governments, more than 30 sugarcane factories were shut down. But Yogi ji’s government either revived them or started newer ones,” the prime minister said.
In the beginning of his speech, Modi referred to Yogi Adityanath as an “energetic, dedicated and popular” chief minister, and said that previous governments used to protect mafia, but now the Yogi government is carrying out a campaign to clear the state of mafia and people are saying “farq saaf hai” (difference is clear).
“Daughters of UP used to think twice before moving out of their homes earlier. Now criminals think twice before committing a crime, earlier daughters used to sit in homes but now the criminals are sitting inside jails in fear,” he said.
‘Farq saaf hai’ is part of the BJP poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh. The party has prepared a poster series comparing the previous governments in UP with the Yogi Adityanath government.
Paying tributes to the country’s first chief of defence staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, who died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu along with his wife and 11 other personnel, Modi said his demise is a great loss to the nation.
“The death of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff is a huge loss for every patriot of the country. The entire country witnessed General Rawat’s efforts in making the forces ‘atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant),” he said and prayed for early recovery of the lone survivor of the helicopter crash, IAF Group Captain Varun Singh who was born in Deoria in UP.
“Even while bearing this pain, the country will not pause, we will work harder to face the challenges from both inside and outside the country,” Modi added.
(WITH AGENCY INPUTS)