All 6 lakh villages in India to be connected with optical fibre cable (OFC) in next 1000 days : PM Modi
“In the coming 1000 days, every village in the country will be connected with optical fibre cable,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address on the occasion of 74th Independence Day earlier today. Shri Modi mentioned that before 2014, only 5 dozen panchayats in the country were connected with optical fiber cable.
In the last five years, nearly 1.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country have been connected with optical fiber cable. He further added that Participation of rural India and villages in Digital India is very important for balanced development of India. To enable this we will rapidly expand our optical fibre network. This will reach all the 6 lakh villages within 1,000 days.
Expressing his gratitude to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for this important announcement, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Minister for Electronics & IT and Communications tweeted, “Today you have entrusted Department of Telecommunications with the responsibility to connect all the villages of India by optical fibre Internet in 1000 days. It’s a game changer for Digital India. With your inspiration we will do it.”
During the 74th Independence Day speech PM also announced that in the next 1000 days, Lakshadweep will be connected with submarine optical fiber cable. “We have around 1,300 islands.
Keeping in mind their geographical location and their significance in the development of the nation, work to begin new projects in some of these islands is underway. We have chosen some islands for rapid development. Recently, we connected Andaman and Nicobar Islands with an undersea cable for a better internet.
Next, we will connect Lakshadweep,” he said while delivering his Independence Day speech from the iconic Red Fort. Earlier this week PM Modi inaugurated the first-ever undersea optic fiber link between Chennai and Andaman and Nicobar to ensure high-speed broadband connectivity for the Union Territory (UT) at par with services in the cities like Delhi and Chennai.
While commenting on announcement for high speed Internet services in Lakshadweep Islands, Shri Prasad said in a tweet that today Prime Minister set a target of 1000 days to provide submarine optical fibre connectivity to these islands. Like linking Andaman & Nicobar islands Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications will fast track this as well.
OFC connectivity to the villages and submarine OFC to the Lakshadeep islands will help the people in rural areas/villages and those in Lakshadweep islands in getting cheaper & better connectivity and all the benefits of Digital India, especially in improving online education, tele-medicine, banking system, online trading, boosting tourism and skill development etc.
Prime Minister reiterated the importance of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and assured full support to fellow Indians during the need of the hour. Over 130 crore Indians have decided to become ‘Aatmanirbhar’ amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Becoming ‘Aatmanirbhar (self-reliant)’ is mandatory. I am confident that India will realise this dream. I am confident of the abilities, confidence and potential of my fellow Indians. Once we decide to do something, we do not rest until we achieve that goal,” he said.
Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort , the Prime Minister announced a major push to Infra while addressing the nation on 74th Independence Day. He said that the Government is prioritising on improving the overall infrastructure for faster development with the help of National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) project and announced that over Rs 110 lakh crore would be invested in the NIP.
For this, the Prime Minister said that more than 7,000 projects have been identifiedacross various sectors.National Infrastructure Pipeline Project will play a crucial role in pulling the country out of impact of Covid 19. NIP is a project that will revolutionise India’s infra creation efforts. Many new jobs will be created , our farmers , youngsters , entrepreneurs will benefit.
The Prime Minister emphasised that now along with Make in India , we have to move forward with mantra of Make for World also.
In his address , the Prime Minister said thatthe whole World has been noticing the reforms being pursued in India. As a result, the FDI inflow has broken all records. India witnessed 18% jump in FDI even during the Covid pandemic.
Who could have imagined that lakhs of crores of rupees would be directly transferred in the Jan Dhan accounts of the poor in the country? Who could have thought that such a big change would happen in the APMC Act for the benefit of farmers? One Nation-One Ration Card, One Nation – One Tax, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and Merger of Banks is the reality of the country today,the Prime Minister stated.
The Prime Minister said that 7 crore poor families were given free gas cylinders, more than 80 crore people were provided free food with or without ration cards, about 90 thousand crores were directly transferred to bank accounts. Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan has also been started to provide employment to poor in their villages.
This is also the first time when the EMI of a home loan for your home is getting a rebate of up to 6 lakh rupees during the payment period. Just last year, a fund of 25 thousand crore rupees has been established to complete thousands of incomplete houses, the Prime Minister said in his address to the Nation, the Prime added.
The Prime Minister said that of the 40 crore Jan Dhan accounts opened in the country, about 22 crore accounts are of women only. At the time of Corona, in April-May-June, about thirty thousand crore of rupees have been directly transferred to the accounts of women in these three months.In Corona’s time, we have seen what the role of Digital India campaign has been. Just last month, almost 3 lakh crore rupees have been transacted from BHIM UPI alone, he said.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today said that his Government is very much concerned about the health and hygiene of women in the country, specially the underprivileged women.
Addressing the Nation on the occasion of the 74th Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort Prime Minister said that Government is taking care of the health and hygiene of poor daughters and sisters and has made them available health related products at an affordable price. He said working in this direction more than 5 crore Sanitary Napkins have been distributed to underprivileged women from 6000 Jan Aushdhi Kendras at the minimum price of Rs.1 each.
Speaking about the announcement the Prime Minister, Union Chemicals and Fertilizers minister Shri DV Sadananda Gowda said that the achievement has been possible due the constant guidance and support of the Prime Minister. He also said that network of 6000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras are geared to serve the people especially the underprivileged as reflected in the we distribution of 5 crore sanitary pads at a mimum price Rs 1.
Shri Gowda stressed that Govt will continue to provide access to essential and quality medicines at affordable price through PM Jan Aushadhi Kendras to fulfil prime Minister’s vision.
MoS (I/c) for Shipping and MoS for Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Mandaviya also said that rapid strides in various sectors especially towards women empowerment and welfare of those from poor strata have been possible due the Prime Minister’s strong commitment to the cause. Our Department of Pharmaceuticals have been working tirelessly to ensure availability of these sanitary pads and other medicines at affordable price through PM Jabaushadhi Kendras.
As a social drive Jan Aushadhi Suvidha Sanitary Napkin is being made available in more than 6000 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushdhi Pariyojna -PMBJP Kendras across the country at a minimum price of Rs.1/-per pad. The market price of the similar Sanitary Napkins is around Rs. 3/- to Rs. 8/- per pad.
This step ensured ‘Swachhta, Swasthya and Suvidha’ for the underprivileged Women of India. This step has been taken by the Union Department of Pharmaceuticals to ensure the achievement of Prime Minister Shri Narendera Modi’s vision of affordable and quality healthcare for all. These Sanitary Napkins are environmentally friendly, as these pads are made with Oxo-biodegradable material complying with ASTM D-6954 (biodegradability test) standards.
In many parts of the country especially in rural areas girls and women do not have access to sanitary products or they do not opt for them as most of these items available in the market are costly.As such getting these pads from Jana Aushadhi Kendras have come as a big relief to them.
Jana Aushadhi Kendras have also supplied 1.56 Crore pads to J&K and Ladakh region. NHM has been distributing these pads free of cost to young girls and women as a part of “Rashtriya Kishore Swasthya Karyakram
