Virendra Singh Rawat / Lucknow
Prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the 296 km Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh even as he hit out at the culture of political largesse.
Addressing a public meeting at Orai in Jalaun district after inaugurating Bundelkhand Expressway, which cost nearly Rs 15,000 crore, Modi said the economic development of India faced a big threat from the “revadi culture” espoused by some political parties to woo voters.
Revadi is an indigenous confectionary, and its reference in colloquial phrase means handing out free doles.
Paraphrasing “revadi culture,” Modi cautioned the youth from this phenomenon claiming it has the propensity to misguide the present generation as well as plunge the future generation into abyss.
“New India faces a clear and present danger from the ‘revadi culture’…those indulging in ‘revadi culture’ will not develop expressways, airports. They are merely interested in trying to win over votes in return for such largesse,” he underlined.
The PM asserted such culture needed to be eradicated if India envisioned to achieve a faster socioeconomic growth in the 21st century.
He said the “double engine” government of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was instead investing in developing roads, houses, dams, power plants, irrigation projects so as to benefit the poor and farmers.
“We are taking steps to protect the coming generation of youth from plunging into darkness,” he said adding his government had not adopted the “shortcut” route of free doles but concentrating on making the future better for the country’s citizens.
Modi further stressed upon a balanced and equitable development between big cities and villages to fulfill the aspirations of the people.
Meanwhile, Bundelkhand Expressway will connect seven districts, especially of the Bundelkhand region in UP viz. Chitrakoot, Banda, Hamipur, Mahoba, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah.
It is positioned as spurring the economic development of the arid and backward Bundelkhand region, which has been witnessing migration of people to other states in search of jobs.
“Earlier, I had always felt that UP urgently needed improvement in two factors for realising its potential. Firstly, law and order, and secondly the quality of road connectivity. Under the leadership of Yogi ji, the perception about UP has positively transformed,” the PM said.
He said soon big industrial hubs, warehouses, cold storages, food processing and agricultural based industries would flanked Bundelkhand Expressway.
Meanwhile, the PM suggested the Yogi Adityanath government to promote fort tourism in Bundelkhand region on the lines of European countries to boost tourism.
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“Today, India looks up to UP with a sense of respect. The state is surging ahead in every field including education, farm, agriculture, highway etc,” he added.