Address by Governor on the occasion of the 69th Anniversary of the Indian Republic
Address by Shri CH. Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra on the occasion of the 69th Anniversary of the Indian Republic at Shivaji Park Mumbai at 0900 hrs on Saturday, 26th January, 2019
Sisters and Brothers,
1. I extend my warm greetings and best wishes to the people of Maharashtra on the joyous occasion of the 69th anniversary of the Republic Day of our nation.
2. On this day, I pay my tributes to the architect of our Constitution, Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. I am pleased to state that the work of the construction of a grand memorial of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in Mumbai is in progress. The work of creation of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial in the Arabian Sea has also been initiated.
3. Maharashtra has received 30% of all Foreign Direct Investment coming to India. The State received 13.5 Billion USD FDI this year. I am sure, Maharashtra will become the first trillion-dollar economy State by 2025. The Government is also committed to further improving the ease of doing business in the State.
Sisters and Brothers,
4. My Government is committed to doubling the income of farmers by 2022. Around 41 lakh farmers have benefitted under the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana. With a view to provide weather related information to farmers in real time, the project MAHAVEDH has been made operational in all 2,060 revenue circles of the State.
The Government has also launched the ‘Maha Agritech’ programme to solve agrarian problems with the help of satellite and drones.
5. Maharashtra is leading in the implementation of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme’ and the ‘Restructured Weather Based Fruit Crop Insurance Scheme.’ More than 52 lakh farmers have received compensation of Rs. 2700 Crore under the Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme. Likewise, more than 1 lakh farmers have received compensation of Rs 565 Crore under the Restructured Weather Based Fruit Crop Insurance Scheme. On the occasion of World Soil Day i.e December 5th, the Government distributed more than 5.50 lakh Soil Health Cards to the farmers. Till date, more than 77 lakh Soil Health Cards have been distributed.
6. With a view to achieve speedy development in Maharashtra, provision of Rs. 22,122 crore has been made, under the Special Measures Programme – 2018, of which Rs. 13,422 crore will be spent on 89 irrigation projects.
7. Under the ‘Jalyukta Shivar Yojana’, more than 15,000 villages across the State have become water neutral. Works in excess of 5 lakh have been completed, creating water storage capacity of 24.36 lakh TCM.
8. Under the ‘Galmukt Dharan and Galyukt Shivar’ scheme, 3.23 crore cubic metres of silt has been removed from 5,270 reservoirs, benefitting as many as 31,150 farmers.
9. I am pleased to mention that my Government’s scheme, ‘Farm Pond on Demand’ has received the Prime Minister’s Award as one of the 10 best innovative initiatives. Nearly 1.37 lakh farm ponds have been created under this scheme.
10. I am happy to note that we have passed the Socially and Educationally Backward Class Reservation Bill. The Act will provide for reservation in educational institutions and for reservation of posts for appointments in public services to citizens from socially and educationally backward classes. This will definitely help Maratha youths for their advancements in education and employment.
11. The State Government has set up the Maharashtra International Education Board to provide world – class education to the children from rural areas. In the first phase, 13 schools have been opened as ‘Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee International Schools.’
12. The ‘Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Amrut Ahaar Yojana’ is being implemented in tribal areas to tackle the problem of malnutrition and anaemia. The Scheme is benefitting 1.59 lakh pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers.
13. With a view to achieve the goal of ‘Affordable Housing for All by 2022’, more than 10 lakh 50 thousand beneficiaries have been registered under the Pradhanmantri Awaas Scheme (Rural) and 3 lakh houses have been completed.
14. I am proud to mention that while hosting the ‘Khelo India Youth Games’ in Pune, our State of Maharashtra emerged as the Champion, achieving 85 Gold, 62 Silver and 81 Bronze medals, taking the medals tally to 228.
15. Around 2.27 Crore families from Maharashtra have been covered under the Mahatma Jotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana. Out of these, 83 lakh most deprived families, selected on the basis of SECC data, are also being provided benefits under the Ayushyamaan Bharat Yojana.
16. With a view to provide a secure cyber space, the State is implementing a Cyber Security Project through 44 cyber labs and police stations.
17. In order to make public transport speedy and comfortable, as many as 55 flyovers have been constructed at various locations in the State. Around 350 kms long metro railway network is being created in Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune. It will serve 11.1 million commuters every day.
Renewal of 10,500 kms of roads under the Annuity Model has been approved and work on 8,000 kms has commenced. Further, nearly 30,000 km rural roads are being upgraded in rural areas under the Chief Minister Gram Sadak Yojana. Nearly 6,000 kms of rural roads have been completed.
While the work of Navi Mumbai International Airport has already commenced, the Government has initiated the work of setting up 10 more airports in the State. The International Airport at Shirdi has already become fully operational.
18. The State is successfully implementing the tree plantation programme under which 50 crore trees are being planted with overwhelming public participation.
19. My Government will be organizing various programmes as part of the Birth Centenary Celebrations of three highly gifted sons of Maharashtra, namely, Shri P. L. Deshpande, Shri G.D. Madgulkar and Shri Sudhir Phadke.
20. I am pleased to note that under the Rural Swaccha Sarvekshan, 2018, the districts of Satara, Nashik and Solapur have got distinctive position among the 10 swaccha districts in the country. Around 34 districts, 351 talukas and 27,667 Gram Panchayats from the State have been declared Open Defecation Free. It is heartening to note that under the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, the State has been honoured with five national awards.
21. Let us on this Republic Day join hands to build a strong, progressive and inclusive New Maharashtra.
Jai Hind ! Jai Maharashtra !!