Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Meghalaya's Shillong addressing the audience in a football ground, said that his government showed red cards to all the hurdles in North East.“In football, when someone plays against the spirit of sportsmanship, they are given a red card and sent out. In the same way, in the northeast in last 8 years, we have given red card to all hurdles like underdevelopment, corruption, political favouritism, and unrest,” he said.
PM is going to be participating in the golden jubilee celebration of the Northeastern Council. The PM pointed out that his government is working on several sports projects in the region. Rooting his speech in the ongoing football world cup final, Modi said, "It's a coincidence that when today there's a football world cup final to be held, I am here in Shillong holding a rally in a football field amidst football fans. There (in Qatar), a football competition is on and here we are on a development competition," he said.
"Today the world cup is in Qatar, and we are cheering for foreign teams, but let me assure you that the day is not far that we will host such global sporting events and our tricolour will fly high, and we will cheer for our own team," he added. In a public function at in Shillong, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of multiple projects.
The PM also mentioned his government’s effort to increase connectivity, he said better air connectivity is helping the farmers of the northeast through Krishi Udan Yojana. "Before 2014, only 900 flights a week were available in the northeast and now, over it's up to 1,900 flights," he said.
Launched in August 2020, the Krishi Udan Yojana scheme aims to assist farmers in selling and transporting their agricultural produces.
Moreover, PM praised multiple developmental schemes that include 150 upcoming Eklavya model schools for tribal students. The previous government divided the region, "we have a 'divine' approach for the region," he said.
"For us, the border areas in the northeast are not the last mile, but our main pillars. We are working on the Vibrant border village project for the development of villages along the border. The previous government used to think if we develop the border area, the enemy country will benefit, but we are going to make the border areas our strongest bastions. We are working on better connectivity, roads, etc. to border villages," he added.
