Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday laid the foundation stone, inaugurated and launched various projects worth over Rs 83,300 crore in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh on Wednesday afternoon. This visit marks the second time in 17 days that PM Modi will be in Jharkhand, following his previous visit to Jamshedpur on September 15.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to the official handle of the BJP and posted, "Today once again I am getting the privilege of being a participant in the development journey of Jharkhand. I came to Jamshedpur a few days ago. From Jamshedpur, I launched development projects worth hundreds of crores of rupees for Jharkhand." "Thousands of poor people of Jharkhand got their own pucca house under PM Awas Yojana. And now, within a few days, the foundation stone and inauguration of development projects worth more than Rs 80 thousand crore have been done in Jharkhand today. These schemes are related to the welfare and upliftment of the tribal society," said the post. In order to boost the educational infrastructure for the tribal communities, the Prime Minister inaugurated 40 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) and laid the foundation stone for 25 EMRS worth over Rs 2,800 crore.
According to the Prime Minister's Office, the initiative will cover approximately 63,000 villages across 549 districts and 2,740 blocks in 30 states and Union Territories, directly benefiting over 5 crore tribal people. The Prime Minister also launched the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan scheme with a total outlay of over Rs 79,150 crore. As per party sources, PM Modi held a meeting with the tribal community in Ranchi, following which he head to Hazaribagh's Gandhi Maidan to attend the closing ceremony of the Parivartan Yatra of the BJP. Earlier in the day, prior to PM Modi's visit, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren highlighted the significant enthusiasm among the people to welcome PM Modi. Jharkhand is expected to hold elections for its 81-member legislative assembly by December 2024, as the current government's tenure is set to end in January 2025. The Election Commission is yet to announce the election schedule. In the 2020 assembly election, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won 30 seats, the Bharatiya Janta Party won 25 and the Congress won 16. Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked 10 years of the "Swachhata Hi Seva" campaign and said that the 'Swachh Bharat Mission' is the world's biggest and most successful movement in this century, which will be remembered by the people even after many years.
The Prime Minister said that the Swachh Bharat Mission has reflected the energy of the people through the demonstration of public participation and public leadership. Addressing an event in Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan on Wednesday, PM Modi said, "1,000 years from now, when studies will be carried out about India of the 21st century, Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan will be remembered. In this century, Swachh Bharat is the world's biggest and most successful people's resolution led by people and joined in by people." PM Modi said that the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan will still be recognised even a thousand years into the future when historians examine India in the 21st century, adding that the more successful the Swachh Bharat Mission is in the country, the more our country will shine. Swachhta Abhiyan is a nationwide campaign in India to promote hygiene and cleanliness and eliminate open defecation. The campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2, 2014. On August 15, 2014, PM Modi delivered a powerful message from the ramparts of the Red Fort, calling for cleanliness to become a national priority and urging citizens to join in this mission. This led to the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd October 2014, which embraced a 'whole-of-government' approach to make sanitation the responsibility of all.