Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the Rs 450 crore New Integrated Terminal Building of Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport at Agartala and launched Mukhyamantri Tripura Gram Samriddhi Yojana and Project Mission 100 of Vidyajyoti Schools describing them as three New Year gifts for the people of Tripura.
The Prime Minister said the capacity of the Agartala airport would now go up by three times and it would boost the connectivity for the entire North-east region.
The cargo terminal that was coming up at the airport would pave the way for Tripura to become the economic hub of the region, he added.
He said the connectivity in Tripura was being improved on the HIRA model of development which includes Highways, Railways and Air connectivity in the state.
PM Modi said the waterway link to neighbouring Bangladesh was also being developed which would enable Tripura to emerge as an international trade hub. This would get further impetus as a rail link was also being built from Tripura to Akhaura in Bangladesh, he added.
The Prime Minister said that his double engine government was working for the welfare of the poor and providing them facilities such as “pucca” houses, drinking water, electricity and roads.
He pointed out that the earlier corruption-ridden governments had neglected Tripura and deprived the people the benefits of development.
PM Modi said the Mukhyamantri Tripura Gram Samriddhi Yojana launched today was another big step in this direction.
He pointed out that over 1.8 lakh pucca houses had already been allotted to the poor under the PM Awas Yojna scheme and the first instalment for another 1.5 lakh such houses.
Taking a dig at the opposition, he said that they had given mud houses to the poor and passed a rule that prevented them from getting new pucca houses. The double engine government had to change these rules so that the poor could benfit, he explained.
Similarly, the Project Mission of 100 Vidyajyoti Schools is aimed to improve the quality of education in the state by converting 100 existing higher secondary schools to Vidyajyoti Schools with state-of-the-art facilities such as IT labs. The project will cover about 1.2 lakh students from Nursery to class XII and will cost around Rs 500 crores in the next three years, he explained.
These schools will equip the youth of Tripura with a high quality education and help them develop their innovative skills in areas such as IT as well, the Prime Minister said.
