Gujarat government names 3 new schemes after RSS ideologues

Even as she said the schemes were “unique gifts” from Modi, on his 64th birthday,  Modi said that September 17 was celebrated across the country as Vishwakarma Day this year. The day falls on the Kanya Sankranti Day by the Hindu calendar and celebrates Vishwakarma, the greatest architect and engineer of Indian mythology.

Flanked by Patel and Governor O P Kohli at the function, Modi distributed tablets to youths, grants and aid to women cattle breeders, and housing aid to construction labourers under various schemes. At the same time, on a couple of occasions, he recalled some of the schemes initiated during his 13-year long tenure from 2001 to 2014 to an audience full of beneficiaries brought here from various parts of the state for the symbolic launch. Among them were students of the Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) enrolled in computer courses, to whom Modi distributed tablets.

While Patel and Kohli extended birthday greetings to the PM, Modi, who is in Gujarat on a two-day tour, rather wanted to observe the day as Vishwakarma Jayanti. “Today is Vishwakarma Puja. He is worshipped by all the workers. There cannot be a better day to launch these schemes that make citizens independent. On this day, we are commencing the Swavalamban Abhiyan. I congratulate you all for this,” Modi said in his speech  in Gujarati.

“The spirit of entrepreneurship among women is admirable. We have seen this in the dairy sector in Gujarat, wherein hierarchy is dominated by men but it is women who work on the ground,” Modi added.

He symbolically distributed milking machines to women having more than 10 cattle and cheques worth Rs 5 lakh each to women-run milk cooperatives to construct building and milk storage facilities. Lauding the state government’s efforts to uplift the neo-middle class, the PM said, “We need to help this section of society the most as they have come out of poverty and are now trying to get into the middle-class bracket.”

“I keep receiving your blessings and wishes on all 365 days. I am really grateful to you. It inspires me to do new things,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Anandiben Patel said that the PM should launch these schemes as it was Modi who as the CM had taken the initiative for the development in the state. “In the Gujarat Budget, we talked about several schemes that we are launching today. The focus of these schemes is the poor,” she said, adding, “Narendrabhai has created a situation where we do not have to go begging to Delhi. We never had to tell him about the Narmada issue.”