Farmers Movement Archive

Internet connectivity for every village in 1,000 days: Narendra Modi

PATNA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said his government was committed to taking the country’s over six lakh villages into 21st century and, therefore, providing digital infrastructure (optical fibre) to link every village with internet connectivity and increased road communication network. The PM said this after launching from Delhi the project to link over 6 lakh villages in the country, including 45,945 in Bihar, with optical fibre, besides laying the foundation stones for nine road and mega bridge projects worth Rs14,260 crore as part of his Rs1.65 lakh crore “PM package” announced for Bihar during electioneering in 2015. It included Rs54,000 crore for the roads – four-laning of national highways and construction of mega bridges. He said it was only the Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA government at the Centre and his own that has stressed on the development of infrastructure in the country. Accordingly, coming a day after the passage of the agriculture reform Bills by Parliament on Sunday, PM Modi hailed the launch of the digital infrastructure project to be completed in the country in the next 1,000 days and the laying of foundation stones for the road and bridge projects in Bihar. He called it a “historic day”. “The previous governments did not think in totality. They just believed in constructing one road here and one bridge or railway station there. That was their vision with regard to the development of infrastructure,” Modi said. “Today, the stress is being given on multi-model connectivity. When the road or any infrastructure is laid, the underlying focus is to link it with ports and airports, besides giving connectivity to the villages, as it will help the farmers to get fast access to markets to sell produce,” he added. The PM also dwelt at length on the farm Bills and said what the opposition has been saying to the farmers is just “anaap sanaap (nonsense)”. Accordingly, he asked the farmers not to get persuaded by them. He also assured them that their right to the possession of land would prevail, while the mandis and the minimum support price (MSP) would also not be done away with. Without mentioning the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act, Modi said, “The agriculture reforms Bills had become a necessity to take Bihar into the 21st century. The old laws had kept enchained the hands and feet of the farmers. The powerful people took advantage of them, but now the same powerful people have been eliminated from the scene, as the farmers will be able to assess the market through internet to sell their produce anywhere in the country and get right price. He said the agriculture Bills were not against farmers and asked them to constitute farm producers organisations (FPOs) and enter into agreements with the companies to get higher income on the produce. There have been instances of farmers of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan getting 20-30% more money on their produce, while those in MP, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal had got 25-30% more money on pulses, he added.

The Times of India

2020-09-22

Patna