Presence at Manipur Sangai Festival : A message to the Nation about State's tourism potential, says PM
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 30 2014 :
With his witty remarks hyphenated by striking punnings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi literally kept the jam-packed audience of Manipur Sangai Festival spellbound for almost 40 minutes even though he spoke in Hindi.
Addressing the closing function of the annual tourism festival, the Prime Minister pleaded passionately to rescue the youth of Manipur from the malady of drug abuse.
The Prime Minister made an impassioned plea to free the youth of the state from the menace of drugs.
He said the youth of this state, that has the potential to inspire the entire nation through excellence in sports, should not fall prey to drugs.
Narendra Modi stated that sports was the fulcrum of tremendous economic activity.
Several allied disciplines such as nutrition and physiotherapy were associated with sports, and this could boost employment prospects for the youth of Manipur.
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On the subject of employment, the Prime Minister said the entire northeast region had the potential to emerge as a hub for call centres.
Referring to Chief Minister O Ibobi's requests for improving infrastructure such as roads and hospitals who addressed the closing function just before him, Modi confided that he was happy that the Chief Minister looked forward to this Union Government for delivering infrastructure.
The Prime Minister announced that Rs.60,000 crore had been earmarked in the Union Budget this year for infrastructure development in the North-East.
He said he would look into each of the requests made and see what could be done about them.
He said the Union Government wishes to take the entire Northeast region to new heights of development.
The Prime Minister also said that during his recent visit to Myanmar, a lot of attention had been given to improving connectivity between Imphal and Southeast Asia.
He said a lot of initiatives had been taken for infrastructure, and the results of these initiatives would be visible in the coming days.
The Prime Minister said that by participating in the closing function of the Manipur Sangai Festival, he wants to give a message to the rest of the country about the immense tourism potential of the state.
He said tourism and infrastructure went hand in hand, and tourism was a big generator of employment.
The Prime Minister said he wanted youth from the Northeast to be recruited in the Delhi Police.
He also referred to a proposal made by him when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat, for 200 women police personnel from each of the Northeast States to be deployed in Gujarat for 2 years.
He said such steps could boost national integration.
In his brief speech, Chief Minister O Ibobi conveyed strong displeasure over the BRO's failure to develop Imphal-Jiribam highway to the level of a standard highway even after four decades of taking over the highway's responsibility.
The State Government honoured the Prime Minister by presenting a number of mementos including a painting of the world famous classical dance genre Ras Lila.
Moreover, a special Ras Lila performance preceded by a traditional Kabui dance item was presented for the Prime Minister.
From Hapta Kangjeibung, Modi headed straight to BJP State unit office.