Thursday turned out to be an emotional day for people in Rameswaram as Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation a state-of-the-art APJ Abdul Kalam National Memorial built by the Defence Research and Development Organisation after inaugurating it.
The Prime Minister led the nation in paying tributes to Kalam, on his second death anniversary. It was on July 27, 2015 the former President of India breathed his last at Shillong while delivering a lecture in one of the north eastern universities.
The Kalam Memorial was conceived, designed and built by the DRDO in record time. The elegant looking structure is being seen as a landmark in Rameswaram, the town where the former President was born.
Modi, who described Kalam as an embodiment of the simplicity and calmness of Rameswaram, flagged off Kalam Sandesh Vahini, an exhibition bus carrying the scientific inventions made by Kalam and the books authored by him. The bus will travel all over India before reaching Rashtrapathi Bhavan on October 15, the late President's birth anniversary.
The Prime Minister also flagged off a new weekly express train between Rameswaram and Faizabad via Ayodhya, named Shraadha Express,and spent time with the close family members of the late President. He interacted with the centenarian APJM Maraikayar, elder brother of Kalam. Modi was accompanied by Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, M Venkaiah Naidu, the NDA’s Vice-Presidential candidate, Union Minister Nirmala Seetharaman, Union Minister of State Pon Radhakrishnan, Chief Minister Edappady Palaniswamy and his colleagues in the council of Ministers.
The highlight of the public meeting held in front of the Kalam Memorial was the inauguration of the Blue Revolution scheme which envisages the capacity building of the fishermen in the coastal regions. More than 250 fishermen have been benefited by the scheme whereby they are given financial assistance to own their own deep sea going vessels so that they would not be troubled by neighbouring countries (read Sri lanka) for trespassing into their international maritime boundary line.
The Prime Minister made a sporting announcement to the Government of Tamil Nadu to make available houses to those people in the State who have no houses of their own. “There are eight lakh people in the State who do not have a house of their own. If the Government of Tamil Nadu makes the land available, we will build the houses at our expense,” declared Modi which was welcomed by all including AIADMK MPs and Ministers.
Another event of national significance was the dedication to the nation of the 9.5 km link road connecting Rameswaram with Dhanushkodi. The road connecting Dhanushkodi with the mainland was totally devastated and destroyed by the cyclone in 1964 and since then the town wore a ghost look with no inhabitation. The foundation stone for the road was laid in 2014 by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari .
“Today is a golden letter day in the history of Rameswarm as we are getting access to Dhanushkodi,” said D Kuppuramu, the one-man army who was waging a “war” with the authorities for reconstructing the destroyed road.
Both the Prime Minister and Venkaiah Naidu, while paying trinutes to Kalam reminded the audience that they badly miss Amma (late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa). “How we miss Amma here in this stage. Had she been here, the ambience would have been entirely different,” said the Prime Minister, ostensibly targeting the two factions of the AADMK which are engaged in the process of mutual destruction.