Taking a swipe at Opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the north-east was “distant” for earlier governments, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has “served with dedication to bring it closer”.
Addressing the gathering in Guwahati, Modi said, “North-east was distant for earlier governments, we have served with dedication to bring it near.”
The Prime Minister is visiting Assam on the occasion of Bihu to inaugurate AIIMS, Guwahati, the first to be built in the northeast. The PM is scheduled to lay the foundation stone, inaugurate and dedicate projects worth around Rs 14,300 crore for the state during his visit.
Besides the AIIMS, the PM also inaugurated three medical colleges in Assam including Nalbari Medical College, Nagaon Medical College and Kokrajhar Medical College today. He also launched the ‘Aapke Dwar Ayushman’ campaign in the state.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister also took on the Opposition and said that the mention of development leaves them disturbed. “Whenever I talk about the development of the Northeast that has been done in the last 9 years, some people get disturbed because they are not getting the credit for growth in the state.”
The PM also dedicated the first AIIMS in the northeast, built at a cost of Rs 1,123 crore, to the nation, and virtually inaugurated three medical colleges in Assam including Nalbari Medical College, Nagaon Medical College and Kokrajhar Medical College today.
“I want to extend my wishes to all of you on Rongali Bihu. On this auspicious occasion, the health infrastructure of North-East and Assam has got new strength. Today, North-East got its first AIIMS and Assam has got three new medical colleges,” he said.
The AIIMS hospital will provide healthcare not only to people in Assam but also to other northeastern states, he said.
The 500-bed tertiary care teaching hospitals with 24 undergraduate departments in the three medical colleges will start with 100 annual MBBS student intake, taking the total MBBS student intake to 1,500 in Assam.
He said that the launch of new AIIMS hospital will strengthen medical infrastructure in North East, adding that social infrastructure has significantly improved in the northeast in the last nine years.
(With agencies input)
