STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and MoS PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vindicated the forgotten legacy of Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Delivering the prestigious 47th Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Lecture here on Thursday, Singh said that nearly half-a-century after the death of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, it was destined that Narendra Modi will take over as Prime Minister and live up to Shastri’s avowed commitment “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan”. It is an irony, he said, the political leaders who claim to be the successors of Shastri and the political party to which he belonged, did not find it appropriate to celebrate the ideals of their own eminent leader and their own former Prime Minister.
Singh said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is credited for having put the record of history straight by celebrating the unsung heroes of contemporary India and liberating the political class from the unknown fear and hesitation to utter the name of any great Indian outside a particular dynasty or family. A series of pro-farmer, pro-poor and pro-soldier schemes rolled out by the Modi Government, Dr Jitendra Singh said, are a tribute to Shastri’s priority for the downtrodden, the lower-strata, the farmer (Kisan) and the soldier (Jawan).
Providing data, Singh disclosed that in the year 2016, over Rs. 3,66,64,000 farmers were covered by the newly launched Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana and up to 31st December 2016, Rs. 13,536 cr had already been dispensed. Similarly, under the Soil Health Card scheme for farmers, the Modi government has sanctioned 460 Soil Testing Labs and Rs. 216.37 cr has already been released under Soil Health Card Scheme, he said.
Not only this, Singh said, Prime Minister Modi also laid emphasis on scientific aspects of farming and agriculture. As a result in 2016-17 Union Budget, Rs. 650 cr was allocated for agriculture education in contrast to only Rs. 405 cr in 2013-14 before this government came in.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Parsottambhai Rupala, Dr R.K. Jain, Joint Director (Education) & Dean of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa also spoke on the occasion.
