PM’s address at the inauguration and dedication of various Projects in Varanasi
Speaker: Narendra Modi
Date: 18 Dec, 2023

Namah Parvati Pateya, Har Har Mahadev! CM of UP Yogi Adityanath ji, Deputy Chief Minister Shri Keshav Prasad Maurya ji, Shri Shankar Bhai Choudhary who is the Speaker of Gujarat Assembly and Chairman of Banas Dairy. Today he has come here especially to give special gifts to the farmers; members of the State Cabinet, MLAs, other dignitaries, and my family members of Varanasi! I salute all the people of Kashi on this sacred land of Baba Shiva. This passion of the people of my Kashi has warmed up the atmosphere even in this winter season. In Varanasi, it is said.. Jiya Raza Benares!!! Well, firstly, I have a complaint against the people of Kashi. Shall I make my complaint ? This year I was not here on Dev Diwali, and this time on Dev Diwali, the people of Kashi broke all records together. You all might be wondering why I am complaining when everything is good. I am complaining because when I came here two years ago on Dev Diwali, you broke the record of that time as well. Now, being a member of the family, I will definitely complain, because I was not here this time to witness your hard work. This time, the people had come to see the wonderful celebrations on Dev Diwali; guests from abroad had also come. They told me about the whole scenario in Delhi. Be it the guests of G-20 or any guest coming to Varanasi, when they praise the people of Varanasi, I too feel proud. I am the happiest person when the world praises the work done by the people of Kashi. I love offering my service to Mahadev’s Kashi and I feel that I can do even more. My family members, When Kashi develops, UP develops too. And when UP develops, the country develops too. Even today, with the same spirit, the foundation stone of development projects worth about Rs 20 thousand crores has been laid and inaugurated. Supply of drinking water in the villages of Varanasi, critical care unit in BHU Trauma Centre, projects related to many sectors like roads, electricity, Ganga Ghat, railways, airport, solar energy and petroleum are all important for the development of this region and will further accelerate the pace of development. Last evening, I had the opportunity to flag off the Kashi-Kanyakumari Tamil Sangamam train. Today another Vande Bharat Express train has started from Varanasi to Delhi. Mau-Dohrighat train is also starting today. With the commissioning of this line, everyone from Dohrighat as well as Barhalganj, Hata, Gola-Gagaha is going to be benefitted. I congratulate all of you for all these development projects. My family members, Today the entire country including Kashi is committed to building a developed Bharat. Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra has reached thousands of villages and thousands of cities. Crores of people are connecting with this journey. Here in Kashi, I have also got the opportunity to be a part of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra. The countrymen are calling the vehicle running in this yatra as Modi’s vehicle of guarantee. You all are familiar with Modi’s guarantee, right? We are trying to ensure that no beneficiary is deprived of the different central government schemes for poor’s welfare and public welfare. Earlier the poor used to go to the government for facilities. Now Modi has said that the government itself will go to the poor. And hence, Modi’s vehicle of guarantee has become a superhit. In Kashi too, thousands of new beneficiaries have availed the government schemes, who were earlier deprived of it. Some got Ayushman cards, some got free ration cards, or were guaranteed a pucca house, some got tap water connection, while some got free gas connection. Our effort is to ensure that no beneficiary should be deprived; everyone should get their rights. And the most important thing that people have gained from this campaign is trust. Those who have benefitted from the schemes have got the confidence that their lives will get better now. Those who were deprived have got the confidence that one day they too will get the benefits of the schemes. This belief has also increased the country’s confidence that Bharat will become a developed nation by the year 2047. And besides the citizens I too benefit. I have been going on this Sankalp Yatra for 2 days and I have been meeting the citizens. Yesterday I got a chance to meet the school children. What confidence they had! The girls were reciting such beautiful poems; some were explaining science. And the children of Anganwadi were welcoming us in such a wonderful way by singing songs. I get immense pleasure! Today I heard the speech of one of our sisters, Chanda Devi. It was such a wonderful speech! I would say that even some stalwarts cannot deliver such a speech. She was describing all the things in such detail, so I asked some questions. She also had answers to those questions and she is our Lakhpati Didi. And when I appreciated her because she had become a Lakhpati didi, she said that sir, in our group 3-4 other sisters too have also become lakhpatis. And they have resolved to make everyone a Lakhpati. Hence, we have come across our people with immense capabilities within the society through this Sankalp Yatra. Our mothers, sisters, daughters and children are full of potential. They are smart in sports and also in terms of knowledge. Sankalp Yatra has given me the biggest opportunity to see, understand, know and experience all these things personally. And that is why I say to everyone working in public life, this Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is a mobile university of education for people like us. We get to learn a lot. I have learned so much in 2 days; I have understood various things. Today I feel blessed. My family members, कहल जाला: काशी कबहु ना छाड़िए, विश्वनाथ दरबार। Besides making living in Kashi easy, our government is also working equally hard to improve connectivity in Kashi. Be it villages or urban areas, excellent connectivity facilities are being developed here. The projects that were inaugurated and whose foundation stones were laid here today will give further impetus to the development of Kashi. There are also many roads connecting the surrounding villages. Construction of Shivpur-Phulwariya-Lahartara road and road-overbridge will save both time and fuel. This project will also be of great help to the people going to Babatpur Airport from the southern part of the city. My family members, We can see the kind of changes that happen due to modern connectivity and beautification with the example of Kashi. The pride of Kashi as an important pilgrimage centre and centre of spirituality is increasing day by day. Tourism is also continuously expanding here and thousands of new employment opportunities are also being created in Kashi through tourism. Since the grand reveal of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham, till now 13 crore people have visited Baba Vishwanath. The number of devotees and tourists coming to Banaras is continuously increasing. And when a tourist visits, he leaves with something. Every tourist spends Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 500, Rs 1,000, Rs 5,000 as per his capacity in Kashi. That money goes into your pocket. You might remember that I had said from the ramparts of the Red Fort that we should first visit at least 15 cities in our country, and then think about going elsewhere. I am glad that people who earlier thought of visiting Singapore or Dubai are now going to explore their own country first and are telling their children to go and see their country first. The money they used to spend abroad is now being spent in their own country. And brothers and sisters, When tourism increases, everyone earns. When Tourists are visiting Varanasi, the hoteliers are earning money too. Every tourist who comes to Varanasi provides some income to the tour-taxi operators, our boatmen and our rickshaw-pullers. Due to the increase in tourism here, all small and big shopkeepers have got tremendous benefits. Well, tell me one thing. Has the number of tourists increased from Godowlia to Lanka or not? Friends, To increase the income of the people of Kashi, our government is relentlessly working to provide more facilities to the tourists here. Today, the Unified Tourist Pass System – Kashi Darshan has also been launched in Varanasi under the Smart City Mission. With this, tourists will no longer need to buy separate tickets to go to different places. Entry everywhere will be possible with just one pass. Friends, Varanasi’s tourist website, Kashi, has also been launched to provide all such information to the tourists from within the country and the world about what to see in Kashi; what are the famous places to eat and drink in Kashi; what are the places of entertainment and historical importance here. Now how will a person from outside know that this is the season of Malayio, or the joy of Chura Matar in the winter sun? How would that person know? Be it chaat of Godowlia or lassi of Ramnagar, all this information can now be found on the Kashi website. Friends, Today, the renovation work of several ghats on Ganga has also started. Be it modern bus shelters or modern facilities being built in the airport and railway station, this will further enhance the experience of the people coming to Varanasi. My family members, Today is a crucial day for the rail connectivity of the country, including Kashi. You are well aware that a massive campaign is going on in the country to increase the speed of railways. With the construction of Eastern and Western dedicated freight corridors for goods trains, the scenario of Railways will change. In line with this, the section between Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction and New Bhaupur Junction has been inaugurated today. This will make it easier to get coal and other raw materials from Eastern Bharat to UP. This will also help a lot in transporting the goods made in the industries of Kashi region as well as the produce of farmers to Eastern India and abroad. Friends, Today, the 10,000th engine manufactured at Banaras Railway Engine Factory has also been put into operation. This strengthens our commitment towards ‘Make in India, Make for the World’. To boost industrialization in different parts of UP, availability of both affordable and adequate electricity and gas is necessary. I am glad that due to the efforts of the double engine government, UP is making rapid progress in the field of solar energy. The 800 MW capacity solar power park at Chitrakoot will strengthen our commitment to provide adequate power in UP. This will create many employment opportunities and will also give impetus to the development of nearby villages. And besides solar energy, a strong network related to petroleum is also being developed in eastern Uttar Pradesh. These facilities, which are being developed in Deoria and Mirzapur, will also help in processing of petrol-diesel, bio-CNG, and ethanol. My family members, For a developed Bharat, it is very important to develop the country’s women power, youth power, farmers and every poor. For me, these four categories are the most important categories. If these four categories become strong, the entire country will become strong. With this thinking in mind, our government is giving top priority to the interests of farmers. Through PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, so far Rs 30 thousand has been deposited in the bank accounts of every farmer in the country. This facility is also being provided to small farmers who did not have Kisan Credit Cards. Besides emphasizing on organic farming, our government is also developing modern systems for the farmers. In this ongoing Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, all the farmers are getting very excited after looking at the drones. These drones are going to shape the future of our agricultural system. The spraying of both the pesticides and fertilizer will become easier. For this, the government has also started ‘Namo Drone Didi’ campaign. People in the villages call it Namo Didi. Under this campaign, sisters associated with self-help groups are being given training to operate drones. The day is not far when the sisters and daughters of Kashi are also going to leave their mark in the field of drones. Friends, Due to the efforts of all of you, the construction of the modern Banas Dairy Plant or Amul in Varanasi, is going on at a rapid pace and Shankar Bhai was telling me that the work will probably be completed in a month or half. Banas Dairy is investing more than Rs 500 crore in Varanasi. This dairy is also running a campaign for cow breeding so that milk production increases further. Banas Dairy has proved to be a boon for the farmers. Banas Dairy plants are already running in Lucknow and Kanpur. This year, Banas Dairy has paid more than Rs 1000 crore to the farmers of more than 4000 villages of UP. Another crucial work was done here in this programme. As dividend, Banas Dairy today has deposited more than Rs 100 crore in the bank accounts of dairy farmers of UP. I congratulate all the farmers who have received these benefits. My family members, This nectar of development that is flowing in Kashi will take this entire region to new heights. This entire region of ​​Purvanchal had been neglected for decades. But with the blessings of Mahadev, now Modi is engaged in your service. There are elections across the country in just a few months from now. And Modi has given a guarantee to the country that in his third innings he will make Bharat the third largest economic power in the world. If I am giving this guarantee to the country today, it is because of all of you, my people of Kashi. You always stand by me, strengthening my resolutions. Come, once again raise your hands and say – Namah: Parvati Pataye, Har Har Mahadev. My heartiest congratulations!