On his first visit to Punjab after becoming the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on Monday hailed the sacrifice of the Punjabi youth in the freedom struggle and paid homage to the martyrs — Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and also Batukeshwar Dutt. “Punjab is a land that has sacrificed so many of its children for the nation…Be it in the freedom struggle or the army. Bhagat Singh, this name has the strength to inspire so many people to live and die for the nation,” said Modi while addressing the rally.
“I have come here today to salute the great tradition of those brave freedom fighters,” said Modi, sporting a yellow turban, symbolic of martyr Bhagat Singh. Maintaining that he had a special relationship with Punjab that he was eager to repay, Modi said: “Whatever issues have been put forth by Punjab Chief Minister, the Centre will look into them. I have a bond of blood with Punjab. As a Prime Minister, I have received an opportunity to pay back my debt, and I will not let such an opportunity slip by.”
Modi said that he would sit with the Badal and chalk out the strategy to sort out issues raised by him. Prime Minister also announced slew of incentives for Punjab. “Centre has decided to enhance state’s allocation under next five-year plan to Rs54,000 crore instead of existing Rs20,000 crore. Allocation for development of urban local bodies and Panchayat bodies has also been enhanced to Rs6,000 crore annually from existing Rs4,000 crore,” he said.
He added, “As a tribute to legendary martyr Shaheed-e-Aazam Bhagat Singh, the upcoming Horticulture research institute at Amritsar will be named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh.” Modi also shared his concern with regards to soil health in Punjab. “If the nation has to move ahead, we have to think about the farmers and villages as well as the children of the farmers. Just the way an overdose of medicine can prove to be harmful for a patient, we must also not use an excess of nitrogen and chemical fertilisers on the soil,” he said.
Expressing concern over the depleting water table in the state, Modi coined the slogan of “per drop, more crop”, and exhorted the farmers to adopt scientific ways and means like use of sprinkle irrigation for enhancing their yield. He assured the farmers that the Union government was sympathetically looking into the possibility of compensating the farmers affected by the recent hailstorm.
During his speech, Modi also remembered Dr Ram Manohar lohia on his birth anniversary and said that he used to give importance to cleanliness. “By 2022, it should be our dream that there is no Indian left without a home. Every Indian must get a home. In 2019, when we mark Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, let us fulfill the dream of a Swachchh Bharat,” he added. Modi became the second Prime Minister after late Rajiv Gandhi to visit Hussainiwala memorial — after a gap of three decades. At Hussainiwala, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were unceremoniously cremated after their hanging in lahore by the British colonial administration on March 23, 1931, on the grounds of treason.
At this place, National Martyrs’ Memorial has been set up depicting an irrepressible revolutionary spirit of these three martyrs, who lit the eternal flame of liberty by smilingly embracing martyrdom for the motherland.
MODI INVOKES FARMERS’ CHIlDREN TO PITCH FOR lAND BIll
Under attack for bringing ordinance in the land Acquisition Bill, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked the welfare of farmers’ children to justify the move he maintaining that efforts are being made to “mislead” the farming community over the new measure. Pitching for the proposed new legislation that is facing stiff resistance from almost all opposition parties, he said that it was necessary to bring about development which will benefit the farmers and their families as well. “Efforts are being made to mislead farmers in various ways. I talked about it yesterday also in my ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme,” said Modi.
He said that if the nation makes progress, it will benefit the farmers as well as their future generations, many of whom want employment in areas other than farming. “If there is no development, what will happen to your childrenIJ Do you want them to live in jhuggi-jhopris (slums) of Delhi and MumbaiIJ Development will bring benefits for the farmer, their children as well as their villages,” he said. The controversial Bill was passed by lok Sabha earlier this month but has got stuck in Rajya Sabha because of a united opposition which has stepped up its campaign against the measure.
“CORRUPTION HAS DESTROYED INDIA”
Talking about corruption, Modi said that it had “destroyed” the country. Targeting the previous UPA Government, he said that the coal-block allocation scam was “bigger” than assessed by the CAG. “CAG's assessment of the loss in the coal-block allocation scam was much less than what it actually was,” he said. When the CAG concluded that the loss was to the tune of Rs1.86 lakh crore, there was “disbelief about such a huge figure”. “There was also a ‘zero loss theory’,” he said targeting the previous UPA ministers who had contended so.