Ahead of next year’s Uttar Pradesh elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated three mega projects worth Rs 9,600 crore in the home turf of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Gorakhpur.
The three ambitious projects, which come a couple of months before the 2022 UP Assembly elections, are set to give further impetus to the growth of underdeveloped eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The projects include the newly built fertilizer plant of Hindustan Urvarak Rasayan Limited (HURL), AIIMS building and ICMR’s regional unit Regional Medical Research Centre.
Addressing a public gathering after inaugurating the projects, Prime Minister Modi said that when there is a “double-engine” government, then work is also done at “double speed”.
“Beginning of a fertiliser plant and AIIMS in Gorakhpur is sending out several messages. When there is a double engine government, then work takes place at double speed. When work is done with good intentions, then even disasters cannot become a hindrance,” he said at the rally.
PM Modi also said that when there is a government that worries about the oppressed and deprived sections, then it works hard and even yields results. “The program in Gorakhpur today is proof of the fact that nothing is impossible for new India when it becomes determined,” he said.
The Prime Minister also said that before 2014, the shortage of urea used to make headlines but the situation has improved now.
PM Modi hit out at the previous governments for not starting the fertilizer plant and allocating land for AIIMS in Gorakhpur. “Everybody knew the importance of Gorakhpur fertilizer plant for farmers and employment here. But previous governments showed no interest in starting it. Everyone knew that AIIMS Gorakhpur has been a long-pending demand but the govts before 2017 made excuses in allotting land for it,” the Prime Minister said.
“These people can never understand that even during corona crisis, the double engine government continued with development, it didn’t let the work stop,” he added.
He also said that sugarcane dues the Adityanath government paid to farmers in 4.5 years are more than the amount paid by previous UP governments in 10 years.
In an apparent attack at the Samajwadi Party, Prime Minister Modi said, “The ‘red caps’ want to form government to show leniency towards terrorists, to bring them out of jails. So always remember that the ‘red caps’ are red alert for UP – they are bells to danger.”
“Today entire UP knows that the ‘red caps’ cared about ‘red beacons’ alone. They had nothing to do with your pain and issues. The ‘red caps’ want power – for scams and for filling their coffers, for illegal encroachments, for providing freedom to mafia,” he added.
Ahead of PM’s visit, CM Adityanath took stock of the preparations in the city and asserted that PM Modi’s regime has been historic for the growth of Uttar Pradesh.
Projects at a glance
The fertiliser plant worth Rs 8,603 crore will produce 12.7 lakh metric tons of neem-coated urea per year, said officials, adding the project will not only bring prosperity to farmers’ lives but also create 20,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities for youths.
The Gorakhpur AIIMS, built for Rs 1,011 crore, will benefit not only the people of eastern UP but also a huge population of Bihar, Jharkhand and Nepal with its world-class health facilities, said offiials.
The regional medical research centre worth Rs 36 crore will facilitate the test and research of vector-borne diseases, they said, adding the high-tech lab will decrease the dependency of the area on big cities for tests related to vector-borne diseases.
