Prime Minister Narendra Modidedicated to the nation INDMAX Unit at Indian Oil’s Bongaigaon Refinery, OilIndia Limited's Secondary Tank Farm at Madhuban, Dibrugarh and a Gas CompressorStation at Hebeda Village, Makum, Tinsukia remotely from Dhemaji in Assamtoday. He also inaugurated the Dhemaji Engineering College and laid thefoundation stone for Sualkuchi Engineering College in Assam.
Governor of Assam Prof. JagdishMukhi, Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Petroleumand Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of State for Food ProcessingIndustries Rameswar Teli were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the public at theevent, the Prime Minister said North East will be the new growth engine ofIndia and he is inspired to work more for the people of Assam. He recalled howthe North Bank in the Brahmaputra gave birth to Assamese cinema eight decadesago with the film Joymoti. He added this region has produced many personalitiesthat enhanced the pride of Assam's culture. He said the Centre and StateGovernments are working together for the balanced development of Assam and themajor basis of this is the state’s infrastructure.
Criticizing the opposition, thePrime Minister said in spite of the great potential in the North Bank, theearlier governments gave the region a step-motherly treatment and did notprioritize the requirements of connectivity, hospitals, institutions ofeducation, industries for this region. He added that the Government is workingon the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas' and has overcomethis discrimination. He further listed the infrastructure projects in Assamwhich were inaugurated by the Government.
He said, today, energyand education infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 3000 crore arelaunched in this region. He said these projects will strengthen the identity ofthe region as a hub of energy and education and would act as a symbol of Assam.
The Prime Minister stressed thenecessity for India to continuously become self-sufficient, to increase itsstrength and also its capabilities. He said over the years, the refiningcapacity in India has greatly increased, especially at the BongaigaonRefinery.
He added the gas unit plantlaunched today is going to increase the capacity of LPG production and willmake life easier for the people in Assam and Northeast. It will also increaseemployment opportunities for the youth in this region.
He said the Government hasfreed the poor sisters and daughters from the suffering they had to endureowing to the smoke from wood in their kitchens through the Ujjwala scheme. Hesaid today, Gas connectivity in Assam has reached almost 100 percent. Hehighlighted that in the Union Budget this time, a provision has been made toprovide free Ujjwala LPG connection to 1 crore poor sisters.
The Prime Minister said poorpeople suffer the most from the lack of gas connection, electricity connectionand fertilizer. He said out of the 18,000 villages that did not haveelectricity even after seven decades of Independence, most of them were fromAssam and the Northeast and the Government has worked on rectifying this.
He added several fertilizerindustries in the region were either shut down or declared ill due to lack ofgas, thereby adversely affecting the poor, needy and the middle class.
Modi said that under thePradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Yojana, eastern India is being connected to one ofthe world's largest gas pipeline networks.
The Prime Minister said astrong talent pool of our scientists, engineers and technicians plays a majorrole in giving impetus to a AatmaNirbhar Bharat. In the past years, we wereworking to create an environment in the country, where the youth of the countrycan solve the problems with start ups. Today, the whole world is recognizingIndia's engineers. The youth of Assam have amazing potential. The stategovernment is working hard to increase this capacity. Due to the efforts of theGovernment of Assam, today there are more than 20 engineering colleges in thestate. Today, this position has been strengthened by the inauguration ofDhemaji Engineering College and the foundation stone of Sualkuchi EngineeringCollege. He announced that the work on three more engineering colleges is goingon. He said the Assam Government is trying to implement New Education Policy atthe earliest. This will benefit the people of Assam, especially children of TeaGarden workers, Scheduled Tribes as the medium of education will be locallanguage.
The Prime Minister said Assamis known world over for tea, handlooms and tourism. Self-Reliance will increasethe strength and capabilities of the people of Assam. Tea production willstrengthen the vision of a self-reliant Assam. He said in such a situation,when the youth here learn these skills in school and college itself, it will beof great benefit. He added in this year's budget, a provision has been made toopen hundreds of new Eklavya model schools in tribal areas, which will alsobenefit Assam.
The Prime Minister said thestate and central government are working together for the farmers of Assam toincrease their potential and their income. He said a major scheme of Rs 20000crore has also been made for the farmers in the fisheries sector, which willalso benefit the people of Assam. He added the government's effort is that theproduce of the farmers in Assam should reach the international market. He saidthat the North Bank's Tea Gardens also plays a major role in Assam'seconomy.
He lauded the Assam governmentfor launching a campaign to lease land to small tea growers. He said now theneed of the people in Assam is to strengthen the double engine of developmentand progress.