BackNarendra Modi reaches out to tribals, differently abled on birthday
In the tribal district of Dahod, PM Narendra Modi announces several water supply and lift irrigation projects worth about `4,800 crore
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Ahmedabad: As birthday wishes from across the country and overseas kept pouring in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated his birthday on Saturday with tribals and differently abled persons in his home state of Gujarat where state elections are scheduled to be held next year.
In the tribal district of Dahod, Modi announced several water supply and lift irrigation projects worth about ₹ 4,800 crore under the Gujarat government’s Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojna. He urged the farmers and tribals to adopt new and modern farm practices to augment their income and produce.
“Farmers of this area are very progressive and have turned to floriculture in big way, achieving tremendous success despite being a difficult terrain," he said while referring to the aim of the government to double farm income by 2022.
Marginalized and small farmers from districts in the tribal belt including Chotta Udepur, Dahod, Panchmahals, Mahisagar and Narmada had gathered in huge numbers for the function at Limkheda in Dahod.
Tribals, who constitute about 7% of the average national population, represent about 15% of Gujarat’s population.
Reiterating the ‘sabka saath sabka vikas’ slogan, Modi said, “From day one I have been saying that ours is a government that is dedicated to welfare of the poor and marginalized community."
The PM also urged the farmers to diversify from animal husbandry to honey cultivation as its can fetch attractive revenues with exports of honey in international market. “Honey has high demand in international markets and we are working towards this direction. In coming days, there will be some big out come from this initiative," he said.
Modi began his day by seeking the blessings of his mother Hiraba at Raysan village in Gandhinagar early in the morning on his 66th birthday.
After the rally at Limkheda, Modi flew to the town of Navsari where he distributed aids and assistive devices to differently abled persons. Over 11,000 people were provided free-of-cost assistive equipment worth ₹ 10 crore. The Shibir has also created a possibility of finding a place in the ‘Guinness Book World Records’ in three different categories.
“I am lucky to celebrate this day with so many divyangs (differently abled). Has any other Prime Minister ever held such an event in the past?" Modi asked the crowd.
Highlighting the need of a uniform sign language in the country, Modi said that the government is working towards bringing one uniform sign language in the entire country, based on international standards.
Meanwhile, some Surat Bharatiya Janata Party leaders appeared so enthralled by the PM’s visit that they briefly seemed to have overlooked the fact that Modi is the prime minister. In posters put up in the diamond city, the Surat BJP unit welcomed “chief minister" Narendra Modi. They were hastily pulled down after realizing the faux pas.
Modi’s visit was his third to the state in little over a months’ time. The state is facing turmoil and social unrest with the Dalits and Patidars protesting against atrocities and seeking quotas respectively. To avoid any trouble that might disrupt the prime minister’s visit, police had detained Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, hundreds of Patels and Congress workers earlier in the day.
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