BHOPAL: Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 12 new terminal buildings of airports across the country on Sunday. Two of those new terminal buildings pertained to Gwalior and Jabalpur Airports of Madhya Pradesh.
Addressing the event from eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district, the PM particularly hailed Gwalior’s achievement in completing the construction of the new terminal building of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Airport within just 16 months, setting a commendable precedent for rapid progress nationwide. He emphasized that Gwalior's swift development epitomizes the pace of growth in the country.
Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel, CM Dr Mohan Yadav and Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the event physically from Gwalior.
During the event at Gwalior, a magnificent statue of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia (founding member of the BJP and also the grandmother of the current union civil aviation minister) was unveiled.
The inauguration of the new terminal buildings of Gwalior and Jabalpur Airports happened two days before Madhya Pradesh gets another Vande Bharat Express train, which will connect the central Indian state’s world famous tourist city Khajuraho with the national capital.
Addressing the event in Gwalior (which is his home city), Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that air services are being expanded in the country as well as the state. Air connectivity of Gwalior has been ensured with major cities of the country.
The expansion of Gwalior Airport has taken place on a 144-acre plot of land, making it the biggest airport in Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, a new airport spanning 100,000 square feet is set to be inaugurated in Jabalpur.
Rewa, Satna, and Datia in the state will witness the construction of new airports. Additionally, there are plans to enhance air service in Ujjain, Guna, and Shivpuri. This will result in a total of 10 airports being built in the state.
It is noteworthy that in the shortest time in the history of civil aviation of the country, the new terminal building of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Airport, Gwalior has been completed.
In this, a glimpse of the cultural and historical splendour and architecture of Gwalior is visible. The work of the terminal building has been completed by the Airport Authority of India in a record 16 months. Equipped with state-of-the-art aviation services, this terminal is equipped with international-level facilities.
This terminal building, established in an area of approximately 20,230 square meters, is capable of providing facilities to 1400 passengers simultaneously.
In this, 16 check-in counters, 4 lifts, 4 passenger bridges, 6 X-ray machines, 3 escalators and parking capacity of 700 vehicles have been developed. Apart from creating infrastructure at the airport, the capacity to connect Gwalior to more and more cities has been developed. Currently, air flights are available from Gwalior to Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai and Ayodhya.
Meanwhile, addressing the event, MP CM Dr Mohan Yadav disbursed a total sum of Rs 678 crore to 30,551 labourer families with a single click under Mukhya Mantri Jan Kalyan Sambal Yojana 2.0 in the programme at Gwalior Airport.
Additionally, he announced a substantial increase in assistance for workers affected by disability or death, raising the amount from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh. Furthermore, workers will now receive a financial aid of Rs 40,000 to facilitate the purchase of e-scooters.
In a bid to further bolster support for laborers, the CM announced enhanced wages: Rs 11,450 for unskilled laborers, Rs 12,446 for semi-skilled laborers, and Rs 9,160 for agricultural laborers. Moreover, part-time laborers will benefit from integration into the Sambal Yojana scheme.