The Governor of Chhattisgarh Shri Vishwa Bhushan Harichandan ji, the Chief Minister Shri Bhupesh Baghel ji, my cabinet colleagues Nitin Gadkari ji, Mansukh Mandaviya ji, Renuka Singh ji, Deputy Chief Ministers of the state Shri T.S. Singh Deo ji, Shri Raman Singh ji, other dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen! This day is extremely crucial in the development journey of Chhattisgarh.
Today Chhattisgarh is receiving the gift of projects worth more than Rs 7000 crore. This gift is for infrastructure and connectivity. This gift is to make life easier for the people of Chhattisgarh and to improve the healthcare services here. With these projects of the Government of India, many new employment opportunities will also be created here. Paddy farmers, enterprises related to mineral wealth and tourism here will also be greatly benefitted from these projects. Most importantly, with these a new journey towards conveniences and development will begin in the tribal areas. I congratulate the people of Chhattisgarh for all these projects.
Friends,
As per our decades-old experience in India, it has been realised that wherever the infrastructure was weak, development reached equally late. So today India is focusing on developing infrastructure more in those areas which were left behind in the race of development. Infrastructure means ease of living for people, infrastructure means ease of doing business, infrastructure means creation of lakhs of new employment opportunities, and infrastructure means rapid development. The way modern infrastructure is developing in India today is also getting reflected here in Chhattisgarh. In the last 9 years, roads have reached thousands of tribal villages in Chhattisgarh under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana. The Government of India has approved the projects of about 3,500 kilometre-long National Highway here. Out of this, projects of about 3,000 kilometres have also been completed. In line with this, Raipur-Kodebod and Bilaspur-Pathrapali highways have been inaugurated today. Be it rail, roads or telecom, the Government of India has done unprecedented work in Chhattisgarh in the last 9 years for all kinds of connectivity.
Friends,
There is another major advantage of modern infrastructure, which is usually not discussed enough. Modern infrastructure is also related to social justice. The Government of India is providing these modern facilities to those who suffered injustice and inconvenience for centuries. Today these roads and railway lines are connecting the settlements of the poor, Dalits, backward and the tribals. Patients, mothers and sisters living in these difficult areas are getting the facility of easily reaching the hospital today. The farmers and labourers here are directly getting benefitted from this. Another example of the same is mobile connectivity. Nine years ago, more than 20 percent of the villages in Chhattisgarh did not have any kind of mobile connectivity. Today it has come down to about 6 percent. Most of these are tribal villages and villages affected by Naxal violence. To ensure that these villages also receive good 4G connectivity, the Government of India is installing more than 700 mobile towers. Out of these, about 300 towers have already started functioning. The tribal villages where mobile phones would lose network as soon as one reached there, are today echoing with mobile ringtones. With the advent of mobile connectivity, the people of the villages are now getting facilitated with many tasks. And this is social justice. And this is the very concept of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas'.
Friends,
Today Chhattisgarh is connecting with two economic corridors - Raipur-Dhanbad Economic Corridor and Raipur-Vishakhapatnam Economic Corridor. These are going to change the fortune of this entire region. These economic corridors are passing through aspirational districts that were once called backward, and where violence and anarchy once prevailed. Today, a new saga of development is being written in those districts under the Government of India. The Raipur-Vishakhapatnam Economic Corridor, on which work has started today, is going to become a new lifeline of this region. The journey between Raipur and Visakhapatnam will be halved through this corridor. This 6-lane road will become a major road connecting the paddy belt of Dhamtari, the bauxite belt of Kanker and the handicrafts-rich Kondagaon to the rest of the country. And I really liked one more thing about it. This road will pass through the wildlife area. So tunnels and animal passes will also be made for the convenience of wildlife. The rail line from Dalli Rajhara to Jagdalpur as well as direct train service from Antagarh to Raipur will also make it easier to travel to far-flung areas.
Friends,
It is the commitment of the Government of India to ensure that wherever there is natural wealth, new opportunities should be created there, and more number of industries should be set up there. The efforts made by the Government of India in this direction in the last 9 years have given a fresh boost to industrialization in Chhattisgarh. With the policies of the Government of India, Chhattisgarh has also received more money in the form of revenue. Particularly after the change in the Mines and Mineral Act, Chhattisgarh has started getting more money in the form of royalty. In the four years prior to 2014, Chhattisgarh had received Rs 1300 crore as royalty. While between 2015-16 to 2020-21, Chhattisgarh has received about Rs 2800 crore as royalty. With the increase in the amount of District Mineral Fund, development work has been accelerated in those districts which have mineral wealth. Be it schools for Children, libraries, roads, or water system, the money of the District Mineral Fund is being used for many such projects.
Friends,
Chhattisgarh has benefitted a lot from another effort of the Central Government. With the efforts of the Government of India, more than 1 crore 60 lakh Jan Dhan bank accounts have been opened in Chhattisgarh. Today, more than Rs 6000 crore are deposited in these bank accounts. This is the money of those poor families, their family members, farmers and labourers who were earlier forced to keep their money in unsafe hands. Today, due to these Jan Dhan accounts, the poor are getting direct help from the government. The Government of India is relentlessly working for the youth of Chhattisgarh to help them get employment, to ensure that they don't face any difficulties if they want to be self-employed. Under the Mudra Yojana, assistance of more than Rs 40,000 crore has been given to the youth of Chhattisgarh. And this money has been given without any bank guarantee. With this assistance, a large number of our tribal youngsters and youths from poor families have started their own businesses in the villages of Chhattisgarh. The Government of India has also launched a special scheme worth lakhs of crores to help the small industries of the country during the Corona period. Under this scheme, about 2 lakh enterprises of Chhattisgarh have received assistance of about Rs 5000 crore.
Friends,
In our country, never before has any government thought about our street vendors. Most of these people come from the villages and work in the cities. The Government of India considers every street vendor as its partner. That's why we made PM Swanidhi Yojana for them for the first time and gave them loans without bank guarantee. It also has more than 60 thousand beneficiaries in Chhattisgarh. The Government of India has given more than Rs 25,000 crore to Chhattisgarh for providing adequate employment under MGNREGA in the villages. This money of the Government of India has reached the pockets of the labourers in the villages.
Friends,
A short while ago, Ayushman cards have been distributed among 75 lakh beneficiaries here. That is, these poor and tribal brothers and sisters have got the guarantee of free treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh every year. They can get their treatment done in more than 1500 major hospitals of Chhattisgarh. I am glad that Ayushman Yojana is helping a lot in saving the lives of poor, tribal, backward and Dalit families. And there is one more important feature of this scheme. If a beneficiary from Chhattisgarh is in any other state of India and if he faces any problem there, then this card can help him get all those benefits even in that different state. There is immense power in this card. I assure you that the Government of India will continue to serve every family of Chhattisgarh with the same spirit of service. Once again, my heartiest congratulations to all of you for these development projects. My best wishes! Thank you
