PM’s address at the laying of foundation stone, inauguration and dedication of various Project at Shirdi
Speaker: Narendra Modi
Date: 26 Oct, 2023

Namaskar Chhatrapati family! Governor of Maharashtra Shri Ramesh Bais ji, hard-working Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Eknath Shinde ji, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra ji, Ajit ji, Ministers of the Central and the State Governments, MPs, MLAs and my family members who have gathered here in large numbers to bless us all! शिर्डीच्या या पावन भूमीला माझे कोटी कोटी नमन! पांच वर्षांपूर्वी या पवित्र मंदिराला शंभर वर्ष पूर्ण झालेले होते, तेव्हा मला साईदर्शनाची संधी मिळाली होती। (Remarks in Marathi) Today, with the blessings of Sai Baba, development projects worth Rs 7500 crore have either been inaugurated or their foundation stones have been laid. The Nilwande Dam, for which Maharashtra was waiting for the last five decades, has also been completed; and I am fortunate that I got the privilege of performing ‘Jal Pujan’ there. I also got the opportunity to lay the foundation stone of the projects related to the temple which has been inaugurated today. With the completion of the ‘Darshan Queue’ project, the devotees from across the country and also from abroad will be benefitted. Friends, This morning, I got the unfortunate news of the demise of a precious gem of the country, the glory of Varakari sect, a devotee of Hari, Baba Maharaj Satarkar. The work of social awakening which he did through kirtan and sermons will inspire the coming generations for centuries. His simple way of speaking, his loving words, his style, captivated people. We have seen the amazing impact of the hymn ‘Jai-Jai Ramakrishna Hari’ in his voice. I pay my heartfelt tribute to Baba Maharaj Satarkar ji. My family members, The meaning of true social justice is that the country should be free from poverty and the poorest of the poor families should get the opportunity to move forward. Our government works on the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. The topmost priority of our double engine government is the welfare of the poor. Today as the country’s economy is growing, the government’s budget for the welfare of the poor is also increasing. Today 1 crore 10 lakh Ayushman cards are being given in Maharashtra. All such card holders are guaranteed free treatment worth Rs 5 lakh. Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the country has spent Rs 70 thousand crores to provide free treatment to the poor. The country has also spent more than Rs 4 lakh crore on the scheme of free ration to the poor. The government has also spent Rs 4 lakh crore to build houses for the poor. This is about 6 times more than what was spent in the 10 years prior to 2014. About Rs 2 lakh crore has been spent so far to provide piped water to every household. Under the PM SVANidhi Yojana, the street vendors are getting assistance of thousands of rupees. Now the government has started another new scheme – PM Vishwakarma. Under this, lakhs of families such as those of the carpenters, goldsmiths, potters and sculptors have been ensured support from the government for the first time. More than Rs 13 thousand crore have been allocated for this scheme. I am giving you all these figures that range in lakhs and crores. Even before 2014 you used to hear about such figures but those figures were about corruption and scams of lakhs and crores of rupees. But what is happening now? Several lakh crores are being spent on some or the other project and scheme. My family members, A large number of our farmer friends are also present in today’s programme. First of all, I would like to congratulate those girls who just presented a commendable play ‘Dharti Kahe Pukar’ in front of us to send out a message to our agricultural society. You will definitely go back with this message. I congratulate all those daughters from the bottom of my heart. My family members, Earlier no one was concerned about the farmers. We started PM Kisan Samman Nidhi for my farmer brothers and sisters. Under this, Rs 2 lakh 60 thousand crores have been given to crores of small farmers across the country. Rs 26 thousand crores have been transferred directly into the bank accounts of small farmers of Maharashtra too. I am glad that the Maharashtra Government has launched Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana. Under this, Rs 6,000 more will be given to the farming families of Maharashtra. This means that now the small farmers here will get Rs 12 thousand under Samman Nidhi. My family members, Those engaged in vote-bank politics in the name of farmers have made you suffer for every drop of water. Today ‘Jal Pujan’ was performed at the Nilwande project. It was approved in 1970. Just imagine, this project was pending for five decades! When our government came to power, work on this project was done rapidly. Now people have started receiving water from the Left Bank Canal and soon the Right Bank Canal is also going to be operational. BaliRaja Jal Sanjivani Yojana is also proving to be a boon for the drought affected areas of the state. The central government is busy completing 26 more irrigation projects of Maharashtra that have been pending for decades. This will be of great benefit to our farmers and drought affected areas. But today when we have started receiving water from this dam, I have a request to all my farmer brothers and sisters. This water is God’s gift. So, not even a single drop of water should be wasted – Per Drop More Crop. We must use every modern technology available to us. My family members, We are engaged in the empowerment of farmers with the right intentions. But some people are playing politics in the name of farmers in Maharashtra. A senior leader of Maharashtra has been the Agriculture Minister in the Central Government for many years. Though I personally respect him, but what did he do for the farmers? During his tenure of 7 years, he only bought grains worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore at MSP from the farmers across the country. Remember this figure! Whereas our government has given Rs 13.5 lakh crore to the farmers in the form of MSP in the same period of 7 years. Before 2014, only Rs 500-600 crore worth of pulses and oilseeds were purchased from farmers at MSP, whereas our government has given more than Rs 1 lakh 15 thousand crore for the pulses and oilseeds to the farmers. When he was the Agriculture Minister, farmers had to depend on middlemen even for the money that was rightfully theirs. Farmers were not paid for months. Our government has made arrangements to send MSP money directly to the farmers’ bank accounts. Friends, Recently MSP has been announced for Rabi crops. The MSP of gram has been increased by Rs 105, the MSP of wheat and safflower by Rs 150. This will greatly benefit our farmer friends in Maharashtra. We are also taking full care of the interests of sugarcane farmers. The price of sugarcane has been increased to Rs 315 per quintal. Ethanol worth about Rs 70 thousand crore has been purchased in the last 9 years. This money has also reached the sugarcane farmers. To ensure timely payment to sugarcane farmers, assistance worth thousands of crores of rupees has been provided to sugar mills and cooperative societies. My family members, Our government is also working to strengthen the cooperative movement. More than 2 lakh cooperative societies are being formed across the country. To ensure that the farmers of the country get more storage and cold storage facilities, support is being provided to cooperative societies and PACS. Small farmers are being organized through FPOs i.e. Farmer Producer Organizations. Due to the efforts of the government, so far more than 7500 FPOs have been formed across the country. My family members, Maharashtra has been a centre of immense potential and countless possibilities. The faster Maharashtra develops, the faster Bharat will develop. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to flag off the Vande Bharat train connecting Mumbai and Shirdi. This process of expansion of railways is continuing in Maharashtra. With the opening of the third and fourth railway lines between Jalgaon and Bhusawal, movement on the Mumbai-Howrah rail route will become easier. Similarly, construction of four lane road from Solapur to Borgaon will improve the connectivity of the entire Konkan region. Not only will industries benefit from this, sugarcane, grape and turmeric farmers will also benefit. This connectivity will create a new path not only for transport but also for overall progress and social development. Once again, I express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you for coming here in such a large number to bless me. Come let us make this resolution that in 2047, when we complete 100 years of independence, Bharat will be known in the world as ‘Developed Bharat’. Thank you very much.