BJP gave three times more funds to Tamil Nadu: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the BJP-led Central Government has given more funds to Tamil Nadu as compared to the pre-2014 INDIA bloc’s rule, sounding an early poll bugle in the state where elections are expected to be held next year.
Blending development and politics, PM Modi laid the foundation stone of several rail and road projects worth over Rs 8,300 crore in Rameswaram. “Over the last decade, the Central Government has allocated three times more funds for Tamil Nadu’s development as compared to the period before 2014," he said.
He also inaugurated India’s first vertical lift sea bridge — new Pamban Rail Bridge — flagged off a train and a ship from the road bridge and witnessed its operation.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin skipped the event and upped the ante on the delimitation issue, saying Modi should allay the fears of the people on the proposed exercise.
Speaking after the bridge’s inaugural ceremony, the PM said the infrastructure development in Tamil Nadu is a priority for the Central Government and they have been allocating more funds for the state even in the Union Budget.
“Over the last decade, Tamil Nadu’s railway budget has increased more than seven times. Before 2014, rail projects in Tamil Nadu received just Rs 900 crore annually, while this year the budget exceeds Rs 6,000 crore," Modi said.
The PM, in an apparent reference to CM MK Stalin over the ongoing language row, took a dig at him, saying that the letters he receives from the state leaders “never" bear signatures in Tamil language.
“Sometimes I get surprised when I receive letters from Tamil Nadu leaders. None of the letters bear their signatures in Tamil. If they are proud of their culture, then at least sign in Tamil language," he said, adding that the BJP government at the Centre is continuously working to ensure that the Tamil language and heritage reach every corner of the world.
Modi also urged the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government to start courses in medical education in “Tamil language", which would help many children from poor families.
“Several states have started medical education in their mother tongue. I would urge the Tamil Nadu government to start medical courses in Tamil language so that children of poor people can also dream of becoming doctors," Modi said.
He shared that after his government came into power at the Centre in 2014, the state witnessed progress at multiple ends — be it the construction of more than 4,000 km of roads or benefits to the local populace from the Centre’s social sector schemes.
“In the last 10 years, more than four crore pucca houses have been provided to poor families across the country, including over 12 lakh pucca houses built in Tamil Nadu under the PM Awas Yojana. Similarly, nearly 12 crore rural families have received piped water for the first time which includes 1.11 crore families from the state," the PM said.
The PM also said that India’s blue economy will play a significant role in the country’s growth and emphasised that the Central Government is providing all necessary support to strengthen the state’s fisheries infrastructure. He further informed that more than 3,700 fishermen have been brought back from Sri Lanka, including over 600 in the last year alone.
India