JAMMU: Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti, Prahlad Singh Patel today said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s eight years of government are unparalleled with the historical achievements in the form of the abrogation of Article 370, implementation of GST, abolition of Triple Talaq, recognition of Yoga at international level etc.
The Minister said this while addressing a press briefing at Udhampur, J&K in connection with the central government’s public outreach program in J&K.
Patel said that the government provided free food grains to over 80 crore people during Covid-19 times under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana which is world’s largest food security scheme launched to combat Covid-19-induced economic disruption. The biggest achievement of this government was the Made-in-India Covid-19 vaccine made after the relentless efforts of our scientists which has made India self-reliant making it the biggest exporter of it, the Minister added.
Patel also said that the defence sector in the country is important for border areas like Jammu and Kashmir has also been strengthened under PM Narendra Modi to the extent that India is now becoming an exporter of defence equipment, BrahMos defence export deals being the best example of it. The defence ecosystem that is being built by India through its joint ventures like with Israel is the biggest achievement in itself in defence technology, the Minister added.
The Minister further said that this government has brought a lot of transparency in the system that is evident from the fact that the beneficiaries of different central schemes be that the Kissan Samman Nidhi, PM Awas Yojana etc are receiving instalments directly into their bank accounts.
The Minister informed that the government has allocated 60 thousand crore rupees under Jal Jeevan Mission this year to provide tap water to 3.8 Crore households. The Minister said that the states can spend three times more of the previous year’s allocated budget under Jal Jeevan Mission for which states have to seek the best technical support, bring in resources utilisation, streamline the tendering process etc. so as to make DPRs in time and achieve the targets like Goa, Telangana, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep etc. J&K will also be achieving the target of Har Ghar Jal in 2024 according to the calendar framed by the UT government, the Minister informed.
The Minister informed that the budget of Food Processing Industries has increased to 137 percent which is again a historical achievement of this government. The Minister also informed that the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme formulated for the food processing industry with an outlay of 1100 crore under PM Narendra Modi will help India to mark distinction in the world in food processing.
The Minister informed that there are 24 lakh food processing units in the country out of which 2 lakh food processing units will be upgraded with an outlay of 10 thousand crores which is good news for the people of J&K who are operating food processing units.
The Minister emphasized that the need of the hour is to start information campaigns through media so that people will become aware of the different schemes launched by the government.
The Minister also laid the foundation stone of a water supply scheme of Saddal and Panjal villages to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 415.68 lakh.
