RUDRAPUR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday stressed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious target of creating a ‘developed India’ by 2047 cannot be realised without the comprehensive development of Uttarakhand and northern states in general.
Speaking as the chief guest at the Rs 1 lakh crore grounding ceremony of the 2023 Global Investor Summit in Rudrapur, Shah emphasised the pivotal role of smaller states in national progress.
“Until our country’s smaller and eastern states advance, there will be no equitable development across the nation,” the Shah expressed, highlighting the Centre’s focus on these regions. He further asserted the potential of the hill state, citing its spiritual significance. Highlighting the nation’s economic progress, the Home Minister stated that India is poised to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027. “The rapid pace of development, our service sector exports doubling and a 76% increase in overall exports have made us the fastest-growing economy,” Shah asserted.
Shah then seized the opportunity to draw a sharp contrast between the state of affairs under BJP rule and that on the watch of a Congress and Opposition government. He highlighted that while the Opposition, in power from 2004 to 2014, had allocated a sizeable sum of Rs 53,000 crore to Uttarakhand, the current Modi government, during its tenure from 2014 to 2024, has provided a significantly larger amount of Rs 1.86 lakh crore.
He took a sharp jibe at the Opposition, remarking, “When a state develops, the Opposition’s work is akin to throwing bones into the sacred fire...”