President Ram Nath Kovind praised both the Central and state governments for their efforts to rapidly develop this ancient-most spiritual city of the world, saying it was moving towards becoming a 21st century smart city
The President, however, called upon all to continue the development process while maintaining the cultural identity and heritage of Varanasi.
The President was in Varanasi to lay the foundation stone of two important road projects of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) worth Rs 3,473 crore, including the four-laning of NH-7 and construction of Varanasi Ring Road Phase -2 (bypass road).
Addressing a select gathering at Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hastkala Sankul, popularly known as Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC), at Bada lalpur here on Monday afternoon, the President praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for carrying out development works in the holy city. He said the government was focusing on cleanliness of the Ganga river and the work on sewage treatment plant had been started under Namami Gange programme.
Kovind said that the completion, of NHAI projects would change the face of the region and accelerate the pace of its development apart from creating a lot of job opportunities.
The President also distributed appointment letters to about 3,000 youths trained under Skill Development Mission. Kovind said that though after becoming the President, he was visiting this holy city for the first time, he had a long relation with Varanasi as in the past he often visited the city and stayed for weeks and his visits always gave him a lot of satisfaction.
He said Varanasi was among the oldest cities on the earth and had the reputation of changing with time while maintaining its traditions, and imparting education of Vedic knowledge along with modern technology.
“It is the city where about 2,600 years ago, Gautam Buddha gave his first sermon in Sarnath. It is also the city where great poets Sant Kabir Das and Sant Ravidas were born and Goswami Tulsidas penned down Shri Ramcharitmanas. It is also the karmabhoomi of Pt Madan Mohan Malviya and janmabhoomi of former Prime Minister late lal Bahadur Shastri. and the only city which has given five Bharat Ratna recipients. The city has produced many chief ministers and it is the first time when the local Member of Parliament (Narendra Modi) has become the Prime Minister,” he added.
The President praised Modi for his efforts to highlight the city and its unique identity across the world and referred to the visits of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, French President Emmanuel Macron and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to this holy city. Kovind also highlighted the glorious handicraft of Varanasi, saying that before coming to auditorium to attend the function, he went around an exhibition which gave a glimpse of the richness of heritage and culture of Varanasi.
During his address, the President repeatedly praised the hectic development work being undertaken in Varanasi, including various projects under Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojna (HRIDAY) and Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD).
He also expressed his happiness at the development of a corridor to link this part of country with eastern India through road, water and rail transportation.
Earlier, welcoming the President, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that about six lakh youths were enrolled under the skill development project and 2.5 lakh of them had already completed their training. He added that out of the youths, 1.4 lakh had already received appointment letters.
The function was also attended by Governor Ram Naik, Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Surface Transport, Mansukh lal Mandviya, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel, UP ministers Chetan Chauhan, Anil Rajbhar, Neelkanth Tiwari and Suresh Passi, BJP state president Mahendra Nath Pandey and MP from Machhalishahr (Jaunpur) Ram Charit Nishad apart from several local MlAs, MlCs and others.