Blasts Opportunistic Politics
Modi criticises the acceptance of people under the cloud of corruption who are either on bail are convicted.
NEW DELHI, July 18 (The CONNECT) – Without naming any particular development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lambasted what he called the opportunistic politics of certain parties.
Inaugurating the New Integrated Terminal Building of Veer Savarkar International Airport, Port Blair via video conferencing, Modi criticized the acceptance of the people under the cloud of corruption and who, in some cases, are on bail and even convicted.
He also attacked the mentality of holding the Constitution hostage. He pointed out that such forces are focused on selfish family gains rather than on the development of common citizens.
Political analysts point out that BJP itself has come under criticism for accepting the entry of several Shiv Sena and NCP leaders – who are under the cloud of corruption charges – into the Maharashtra government. Modi himself labelled NCP as a corrupt party with scams worth Rs 70,000 crore.
In his address today, the PM criticised the politics of casteism and corruption. India, he said, would have scaled new heights in the last 75 years of Independence but corruption and dynastic politics always did injustice to the strengths of the common citizens.
The Rs 710-crore Veer Savarkar International Airport is capable of handling about 50 lakh passengers annually. Till now, the existing terminal had the capacity to handle 4000 tourists, and the new terminal has taken this number to 11,000 and 10 planes can be parked at any given time on the airport now, Modi explained.
Increased number of flights and tourists will bring more jobs to the area and the new terminal building will increase Ease of Travel, Ease of Doing Business and connectivity, the Prime Minister said.
“The scope of development has been limited to big cities for a long time in India”, the PM said, as he highlighted that the Adivasi and island regions of the country were devoid of development for a long time. He said that in the last 9 years, the present government has not only rectified the mistakes of the governments of the past with utmost sensitivity but also come up with a new system.
“A new model of development of inclusion has come up in India. The model is of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’”, the Prime Minister said. He explained that this model of development is very comprehensive and includes the development of every region and every section of society, and every aspect of life such as education, health and connectivity.
The Prime Minister said that in the last 9 years, a new story of development has been written in Andaman as well. In the 9 years of the previous government Andaman and Nicobar received a budget of Rs 23,000 crores, whereas in the last nine years of the present government, a budget of about Rs 48,000 crores was allocated for Andaman and Nicobar. Similarly, during the 9 years of the previous government 28,000 households were connected with piped water, this number in the last 9 years is 50,000.
Today, the Prime Minister continued, everyone in Andaman and Nicobar has a bank account and the facility of One Nation One Ration Card. The current government is also responsible for the medical college in Port Blair whereas, earlier, there was no medical college in the Union territory. Earlier, the Internet was solely dependent on satellites, now, he said, the present government took the initiative of laying the undersea optical fiber of hundreds of kilometres.
The Prime Minister said that this expansion of facilities is giving momentum to tourism here. Mobile connectivity, health infrastructure, airport facilities and roads promote the arrival of tourists. That is why, said Modi, tourist footfall has doubled as compared to 2014. Adventure tourism is also thriving and the numbers will rise manifold in the coming years.
“Andaman is becoming a living and breathing example of the maha-mantra of development and heritage going hand in hand”, the Prime Minister remarked. The Prime Minister noted that even though the Tiranga was hoisted in Andaman way before it was hoisted in the Red Fort, one could only find signs of slavery on the island. He expressed gratitude for getting the opportunity to hoist the national flag at the exact same spot where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose once hoisted the Tricolour. The Prime Minister highlighted that it was the present government that renamed Ross Island as Netaji Subhas Island, Havelock Island as Swaraj Island and Neil Island as Shaheed Island. He also touched upon renaming the 21 islands after the Param Vir Chakra awardees. “Development of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has become a source of inspiration for the youth of the country”, he added.
