Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 9: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vindicated the forgotten legacy of Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Delivering the prestigious 47th Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Lecture, Dr Jitendra 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.
Dr Jitendra 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, Dr Jitendra 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, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Prime Minister Modi also has 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. He also referred to the government order of making 100% Neem-coated Urea mandatory from December 2015 and the organic farming mission for Northeast.
Referring to various welfare measures for military and para-military personnel, Dr Jitendra Singh highlighted the “One Rank, One Pension” (OROP) for which over Rs. 11,000 cr had been earmarked and over Rs. 6,500 cr already dispensed. He also referred to provisions brought in for the superannuated soldiers by holding job fairs and special recruitment drives, as a result of which 1,416 officers and 62,415 junior-level army personnel were reemployed between May 2014 and April 2016.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the historic decision of surgical strike raised the morale and esteem of Indian soldier, while the other historic decision of ‘Remonetization’ added to the confidence and esteem of the farmer and the poor.
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.
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