STATE TIMES NEWS
CHANDIGARH: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday slammed the opposition parties for raising questions about the strength of the NDA government at the Centre, saying the alliance will not only complete its term but also form the government in 2029.
Shah made the remarks addressing a gathering here after inaugurating the 24×7 Manimajra water supply project.
Lauding the Modi government for its works, he said, “I want to say that the 10- year period from 2014 to 2024 will be inscribed in golden letters in history of our country’s development.”
Shah said in the past 10 years under the Modi government, the country achieved different types of successes as he spoke about surgical and air strikes, abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, building Ram temple in Ayodhya, setting up a road network and transformation of British-era railway stations.
In every field, people of the country experienced development, he said.
Shah said the country became a manufacturing hub with the Modi government’s initiatives, including Startup India and Digital India.
Because of this, people made Modi prime minister for a third time, he said, adding that in a way, people have put their stamp on works undertaken by PM Modi.
“I want to assure you (people) that let the opposition make a fuss, you do not worry. In 2029 also, the NDA will come (to power), (Narendra) Modi ji will come,” the Union home minister said. “They (opposition) feel that with some success, they have won elections. They do not know that the BJP won more seats in this election (2024 Lok Sabha poll) than the number of seats the Congress got in the past three elections… The BJP alone has more seats than the total number of seats which their whole alliance has,” he said.
Attacking the INDIA bloc parties, Shah said they want to create uncertainty as they keep saying that this government will not complete its term.
“I want to assure the opposition that not only will this government complete its five-year term, the next term will also be of this government. Be ready to sit in the opposition and learn to work effectively in the opposition,” he added.
About the water supply project, Shah said over one lakh people in Manimajra area will get round-the-clock water supply.
He said a sum of Rs 75 crore has been spent on this project.
The Union minister said when Modi became the PM in 2014, he tried to uplift the standard of people’s living in cities by implementing the Smart City plan.
The Centre has spent over Rs 1,000 crore in Chandigarh under the Smart City project, he said.
Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, aimed to ensure clean drinking water, Shah said the work on ensuring water in 15 crore houses has been completed in less than seven years.
Clean drinking water has been ensured in 74 per cent of houses in the country, he further said.
After the start of Jal Jeevan Mission, there was a drop in the number of diarrhoea deaths.
Earlier there used to be four lakh deaths due to diarrhea and now there is a drop of three lakh in it, he said.
As far as Chandigarh city is concerned, five sewage treatment plants have been set up and an Integrated Command and Control Centre has also been established to streamline traffic movement, said Shah.
He said there is a reduction of 40 per cent in traffic related violations and 31 per cent drop in accidental deaths.
For the development of Chandigarh, the Centre spent Rs 30,000 crore in the last 10 years, he added.
Shah also praised former MP Kirron Kher for her efforts towards bringing the water supply project in the city.
The water supply project will benefit over one lakh residents of Manimajra, including those living in Modern Housing Complex, Shivalik Enclave, Indira Colony, and Shastri Nagar.
The project, a part of the Smart City mission, is aimed at avoiding wastage of water by minimising storage through continuous high-pressure supply.
The other objectives of the project include water resource augmentation through leakage reduction, smart metering, limited dependence on groundwater, and monitoring of energy consumption.
A total of 22 km water supply pipeline has been laid for this project and two underground water reservoirs, each with capacity of two million gallons per day, set up.
Later, Shah also inaugurated the e-evidence, Nyay Setu, Nyay Shruti and e-summon systems built to augment the criminal justice apparatus.