NE NEWS SERVICE
DHORDO, NOV 12
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said infrastructure development in the country’s border areas in the last six years of the Narendra Modi government has been much more than in the previous 50 years.
Referring to airstrikes and the surgical strike by the defence forces, Shah said India is now giving a befitting reply to enemies rather than the past practice of just issuing a “diplomatic statement”.
देश में कुछ वक्रद्रष्टा लोग हैं जो हर काम में नुक्स निकालते हैं कि राम मंदिर क्यों बनाया, 370 क्यों हटाया…पर जनता बहुत जागरूक है क्योंकि अब योजनाएँ फाइलों में नहीं रहती घरों तक पहुँचती हैं।
हाल ही में आए चुनाव नतीजों में जनता ने उनका सूपड़ा साफ करके सबक सिखाने का काम किया है। pic.twitter.com/1V0et77PIE
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) November 12, 2020
He was addressing people at the ”Simant Kshetra Vikasotsav-2020” at Dhordo village in Gujarat’s Kutch district as part of the central government’s Border Area Development Programme.
Sarpanchs (village heads) along with other elected representatives of Kutch, Banaskantha, and Patan districts, which share the land border with Pakistan, were present at the event.
Shah said the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to developing areas situated along the country’s border.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (India’s first Home minister) had stressed on stopping migration and providing water, electricity to the border villages. But, after his death, the Congress government did not implement it, Shah said.
“But now, Modiji has taken up that task,” he said.
As against just 170 km of roads in border areas undergoing resurfacing between 2008 and 2014, 480 km of roads underwent resurfacing between 2014 and 2020 under the Modi government, he said.
Shah further said compared to just one tunnel built near the border between 2008 and 2014, as many as six tunnels were already constructed between 2014 and 2020 and work has started for 19 others.
“These figures show our priority. We have allocated a budget of Rs 11,800 crore for the year 2020-21 for border area development.
“Infrastructure development carried out in these areas in the last six years under the Modi government is much more than what was done in the previous 50 years,” he said.
The country cannot march ahead on the path of development without strengthening its internal security. It is necessary to stop the migration of people from border areas. To do so, those areas must be developed at par with cities, Shah said.
“Prime Minister Modiji has instructed us to give priority to such villages and implement government schemes in these areas before implementing them anywhere else,” he said.
धोर्दो (कच्छ) में गुजरात के सीमावर्ती क्षेत्रों के जन प्रतिनिधियों के सम्मेलन को संबोधित किया।
मोदी जी के नेतृत्व में देश के सभी सीमावर्ती क्षेत्रों में अभूतपूर्व विकास और सुरक्षा देखने को मिली है। हम इन क्षेत्रों में रहने वाले लोगों को हर सम्भव सुविधाएँ उपलब्ध करवा रहे हैं। pic.twitter.com/4e1RwWayJ6
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) November 12, 2020
The main objective behind organising such programmes is to make sure that border areas get facilities like healthcare, education and better connectivity at par with cities, he said.
“We strongly believe that unless a citizen living on the border is not aware (about security aspects), the country’s borders are not secure,” the Home Minister said.
“In near future, we will organise programmes to connect people living near our borders with the country’s security aspects and make them aware about their strategic importance,” he said.
Such programmes would be held in other bordering areas across the country in future and the prime minister himself would attend them, Shah said in his address.
कच्छ के प्रसिद्ध आशापुरा माताजी मंदिर में देवी माँ की पूजा अर्चना कर आशीर्वाद लिया।
माँ सभी पर अपनी कृपा और आशीष बनायें रखें। pic.twitter.com/MwwWzn7ePk
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) November 12, 2020
Sarpanchs of 158 border villages along with other elected representatives of Kutch, Banaskantha and Patan districts were present during the event.
Shah hailed their role in securing India’s land border, saying these elected representatives are as important as the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) or the Border Security Force (BSF).
धोर्दो (कच्छ) की प्रदर्शनी में सीमांत गावों के हमारे बहनों-भाइयों की कला और अद्भुत हुनर देखने को मिला जो सचमुच बहुत ही प्रशंसनीय है।
मोदी सरकार हमारी प्राचीन भारतीय हस्तकला के संरक्षण और उसको बढ़वा देने के लिए निरंतर प्रयासरत है। pic.twitter.com/MQ5n32NhS0
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) November 12, 2020
The Union Home Minister informed the audience that he along with Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani will hold a high-level meeting in the evening at Bhuj with heads of various security agencies active in this region “to plug the holes and set up an effective monitoring system”.
Before his address, Shah inaugurated an exhibition of stalls of various state and central government departments, agencies and schemes, such as the Gujarat police, BSF, Rashtriya Raksha University, Statue of Unity and Tourism Department, among others.
गुजरात के धोर्दो (कच्छ) में आयोजित ‘सीमांत क्षेत्र विकासोत्सव 2020' की प्रदर्शनी का उद्घाटन किया। pic.twitter.com/FWA3YEC6iO
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) November 12, 2020
Those with hostile view about everything were rejected in polls: Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said people in Bihar, Gujarat, and other states where elections were held recently have rejected the leaders who only find fault with everything.
People have given a message that they stand behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.
“Some political leaders and parties are `Vakra-drashta”, as they have a hostile view about everything. They have a habit of finding fault with everything good for people,” the senior BJP leader said.
“These leaders talk too much, as they think that their falsehoods will be accepted as the truth if they keep repeating it,” Shah said.
“But people are now more aware because benefits of government schemes have reached the villages and their residents. Schemes are no longer (only) on files or in secretariats,” the Union minister added.
“Some people raised questions about the country’s preparedness against coronavirus, the abrogation of Article 370, and construction of the Ram Temple. Some people tried to create an atmosphere of unrest as they tried to find negativity in everything,” he said.
The parties and leaders who find fault with everything faced a “total whitewash in the recently held elections in Bihar, Gujarat, MP, UP, Karnataka, Leh-Ladakh, Telangana and Manipur as people chose the BJP”, Shah said.
“135 crore people gave a message to these leaders, parties, and the entire world that they are firmly standing with Modi and supporting him at each step. This mandate has established that people are with Modi,” he said.