Our Correspondent
Kohima, June 2 (EMN): Minister for Higher Education and Tribal Affairs and president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Nagaland, Temjen Imna Along, on Thursday said the NDA government at the Centre and the BJP remain committed to serving the people of the nation and the state through good governance and empowering the poor, farmers, villagers and all sections of the society.
He was addressing a press conference at his official residence in Kohima along with BJP chief spokesperson Kuputo Shohe and co-chief spokesperson Nini Cheng, to highlight the eight years of Seva, Sushasan and Gareeb Kalyan (welfare schemes, good governance, and welfare of the poor) initiatives of the Modi government in the country.
Imna Along stated that in Nagaland, under the leadership of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Deputy CM Y Patton, the UDA government has been trying its best to bring Seva Sushan, Gareeb Kalyan to the people of the state to uplift everyone. He added that the state has also felt the impulse of the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well.
'In commemoration of eight years of Modi government, India as a nation has improved, with world reputation, having leadership that is world respected and has been looked upon by the leaders of the world,’ said Along.
He also informed that from June 1 to the 15th, to commemorate the initiatives of the Seva, Sushasan and Gareeb Kalyan, various programmes will be organised in various districts that will bring to the forefront the new governance programmes in the state too.
Further, he maintained that the Modi government is giving hope to the people of the nation by empowering the people and also initiating steps to eradicate poverty, hunger and building better healthcare, roadways and bringing reforms to the nation towards making India a self-reliant nation.
Meanwhile, Nini Cheng said that under the Antyodaya -- serving the poor and marginalised in the country -- 80 crore people were provided free food grains under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana; 1.22 crore houses sanctioned under PM Awas Yojana (Urban); 2.3 crore houses under P Awas Yojana (Rural); 11.22 crore toilets constructed under Swachh Bharat Mission; 6.2 crore new houses provided tap water connection in last three years under Har Ghar Nal Se Jal Yojana and loans disbursed to 29.6 lakh street vendors under PM Svanidhi Yojana.
Whereas under health care and pandemic management, she said 3.2 crore people had received free treatment up to INR 5 lakh under Ayushman Bharat Yojana; more than 18 crore Ayushman cards issued; more than 190 crore free vaccines were administered under the world’s largest vaccination drive; 8,727 Aushadhi Kendras were provided affordable medicines; 15 new AIIMS were inaugurated in last eight years; around 200 new medical colleges opened and several others in progress.
She pointed out that under farmers’ welfare, 11.3 crore families had benefited under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, amounting to were given INR 1.82 lakh crore, while 37.52 crore applications were insured under PM Fasal Bima Yojana and INR 3.4 lakh crore credit issued to more than three crore kisan credit card beneficiaries.
Maintaining that more crops were brought under the MSP regime and MSP hiked to 1.5 times the production cost, she said the initiative of neem coated urea stopped its black marketing while 23 core soil health cards were issued. She added that subsidy of INR 1,200 was provided on each bag of fertiliser, and a record procurement of rabi and kharif crops were done at MSP.
Cheng also put on record the initiative undertaken for youth-led development like the National Education Policy 2020, training for PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana, increase in industrial training institute besides 80% increase in the number of medical seats. She also said that to empower the women for new India, 9 crore LPG connections under PM Ujjwala Yojana were done while Jan Dhan Accounts for 25 crore women were linked.
The party official also highlighted that various other initiatives had been done for women, be it paid maternity leave, Sainik schools, loans for women, SHGs and the PM Mudra Yojana, while highlighting extensive network of roads and other infrastructural development activities being initiated.
With a growth rate of 8.2%, India is the fastest growing economy in the world, said Cheng, adding that the country recorded the highest-ever FDI inflow of US Dollar 83.57 billion in 2021-22 and the ease of doing business in the country has improved consistently.
Meanwhile, Kuputo Shohe said that the Modi-led government had integrated the Northeast by signing peace agreements with various insurgent groups to end decades-old violence and other infrastructural developments, besides 74% reduction in rebellious activities and 60% decline in armed forces casualties in the region.
He also highlighted the steps taken by the Centre with regard to national security and foreign policy, besides taking other historic and landmark decisions.