Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid rich tributes to India’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, saying he was the architect of the country’s defence reforms and a soldier who strived all his life to make the nation stronger.
Addressing a massive rally at Balrampur in UP where he inaugurated the Rs 9,800 crore Saryu Nahar irrigation project, the Prime Minister said that General Rawat’s tragic demise in the helicopter crash had left a huge void. Despite the pain and sorrow, the country would not stop or slow down its march towards development and reforms and would work harder to become stronger.
“Together, we Indians will work hard and face every challenge inside and outside the country,” he added.
Lauding the achievements of the late Chief of Defence Staff, the Prime Minister said that General Rawat worked tirelessly throughout his life for the nation and soldiers of the defence forces.
General Rawat made a huge contribution to Aatam Nirbhar Bharat in the defence sector and developing infrastructure to beef up the military strength of the country, PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the fact that General Rawat as CDS played a major role in the integration of the three defence services so that they function in closer co-ordination and take advantage of the synergy to pack a bigger punch.
PM Modi also condoled the death of the 11 other defence personnel who lost their lives in the helicopter crash. Expressing grief over the devastating loss, he also said that the government was doing everything to save the life of the sole survivor in the crash, Group Captain Varun Singh and the country’s prayers were with him.
Speaking on the Saryu Canal National Project, PM Modi said it would provide water for irrigation to over 14 lakh hectares of land which would benefit over 29 lakh farmers in Uttar Pradesh.
He took a swipe at the opposition for having delayed the project by 50 years. He said that the project which had started in 1978 would have been completed with Rs 100 crore, but since it had been ignored by the previous opposition governments the cost escalated 10 times to 9,800 crore.
"I have been most hurt by the misuse and insult to the government money and resources. The opposition parties’ mindset has been it's government money.. I have nothing to lose. This mindset is the biggest impediment to the country's progress."
Yet again using the "Mafia raj" jibe over the law and order in the state before the BJP took charge, PM Modi used the campaign slogan to step up attack: "They used to protect mafias. Yogi Ji's government is wiping them out.
Taking a dig at Akhlesh Yadav, the Prime Minister said, "It is the nature of some people only to cut ribbons and then forget about the work. It may be true that they have cut the ribbon of a project years or decades ago, but that is all they do – cut ribbons. Our nature in the 'double-engine ki sarkaar' is to complete the work and deliver the projects on time."
Work on the project started in 1978 but due to lack of continued budgetary support, interdepartmental coordination and adequate monitoring, it got delayed and was not completed even after nearly four decades.
The Prime Minister then prioritised the inordinately delayed project in 2016 by bringing it under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana with the target to complete it in a time bound manner. Land acquisition was expedited and the digging of new canals speeded uo to complete the project in four years.
The project interlinks five rivers – Ghaghara, Saryu, Rapti, Banganga and Rohini to ensure optimum usage of water resources of the region.
