CHANDIGARH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today compared army’s surgical strikes to Israeli army’s targeted anti terror operations and said that Indian army is not less than anybody.
Addressing the Parivartan Rally at Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, Modi who had visited this part of the country first time after the surgical strikes said, “ These days everyone in the country is talking about our army’s valor. Earlier we used to hear that Israeli army’s anti-terror surgical strikes. But now our nation has seen that the Indian army is no less than anybody,” he said.
"Our government had fulfilled its promise of ‘one rank, one pension’ for ex-servicemen, an issue which had been hanging fire for over 40 years. The earlier governments had just made tall claims and only allocated a few hunderd crores. When the whole exercise was done we were astonished that the figure was more than Rs 10,000 crore and was difficult for any government to make such a big allocation in one go. But still we agreed to release the money in four installments. Already Rs 5,500 crore has been given in first installment nd soon the rest will be given,’’ he said.
"When I became the Prime Minister, I never imagined that the PMO will have to start a new department. I had to start an archaeology department. Many projects which were initiated ages ago, of which only foundation stone was laid, either remained in a state of status quo or their files were lost.We have been searching to bring out the skeletons of those files. I was surprised to see there were so many incomplete projects," he said giving an example of Nangal Dam-Talwara railway project which was initiated in 1981 but no work had progressed.
While taking a dig at the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Modi said that BJP chief ministers are working for causes like drinking water and roads while the Congress leader was concerned about his own welfare. The opposition has accused the government of taking undue political advantage on the issue of surgical strikes for political benefits.
Earlier Modi dedicated to the nation three hydro-electric projects (Koldam HEP (4x200 MW) of NTPC, Parbati HEP Stage-III (4x130 MW) of NHPC and Rampur HEP (6x68.67 MW) of SJVN) with a combined generating capacity of 1,732 MW. Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Union Health Minister J P Nadda and Power Minister Piyush Goyal were present on the occasion.
After the Himachal Pradesh visit Modi reached Ludhiana in Punjab where he launched the national SC/ST hub and the zero defect, zero effect on environment scheme for micro, small and medium enterprises sector and he also presented national awards to the MSMEs. He distributed charkhas to women and also tried his hand at a charkha. He also visited a khadi exhibition at Punjab Agricultural University and inaugurated a coir rath.
Modi said today's mantra should be 'khadi for fashion' before independence it was `Khadi for Nation’.
"See how well Khadi is marketed now. Earlier it was only ‘Khadi for nation’, now it’s also ‘Khadi for fashion’. Use khadi products. Buy khadi this Diwali so that the poor who spin the charkha can celebrate,” he said.
He said, “ Now Delhi is not far off. Our government has started this trend of launching important schemes in various parts of India, and not only in Delhi. The earlier governments have left a lot of work for me to complete.’’
Modi said,`` India today is the fastest growing major economy in the world. Amid global slowdown, India is providing strength to the world economy. The global market is waiting for us, we should have a dream of making products with ‘zero defect’. Our products should be so perfect that all the countries buy them without a second thought. We should give as much importance to the quality as well as the packaging of the product,” he said.
Modi said, "India today is the fastest growing major economy in the world. Amid global slowdown, India is providing strength to the world economy. The global market is waiting for us, we should have a dream of making products with ‘zero defect’. Our products should be so perfect that all the countries buy them without a second thought. We should give as much importance to the quality as well as the packaging of the product,” he said.