English rendering of PM's address at the launch of various development projects in Purnea, Bihar

Prime Minister's Office English rendering of PM's address at the launch of various development projects in Purnea, Bihar Posted On: 15 SEP 2025 7:26PM by PIB Delhi Bharat Mata ki – Jai! Bharat Mata ki – Jai! Honourable Governor Shri Arif Mohammad Khan ji, our popular Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar ji, other distinguished dignitaries present on the stage, and my dear brothers and sisters! My greetings to you all. Purnia is the land of Goddess Puran Devi, Bhakt Prahlad, and the workplace of Maharshi Mehi Baba. This soil has also given birth to novelists like Phanishwar Nath Renu and Satinath Bhaduri. It is the ‘karmabhoomi’ of ‘karmayogis’ like Vinoba Bhave. I bow again and again to this sacred land. Before I begin, I seek your forgiveness. My program got stretched in Kolkata, and, as a result, I was late in reaching here. Despite this, such a large number of you have come here to bless me, you have waited for such a long time, I express my heartfelt gratitude to you. And once again, I bow at the feet of the people to seek forgiveness for arriving late. Friends, Today, development projects worth around 40,000 crore rupees for Bihar have been inaugurated and foundation stones have been laid. These projects related to railways, airports, electricity, and water will help fulfil the dreams of Seemanchal. Today, more than 40,000 beneficiaries have also received pucca (permanent) houses under the PM Awas Yojana. Today marks a new beginning for these 40,000 families. Getting a pucca house and entering your own home just before Dhanteras, Diwali, and Chhath Puja is truly a blessing. I congratulate these families and extend my best wishes to them. Friends, Today’s occasion is also about assuring my homeless brothers and sisters. The day will come when they too will get a pucca house and this is Modi’s guarantee. Our government has built and provided more than 4 crore pucca houses for the poor in the last 11 years. Now, we are working on building 3 crore more houses. Modi will not stop or rest until every poor person gets a pucca house. Priority to the backward and service to the poor is Modi’s mission. Friends, Today, we are celebrating Engineers’ Day on the birth anniversary of Sir M. Visvesvaraya ji. Engineers play a vital role in building a ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Developed India) and a ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Developed Bihar). I extend my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to all engineers of the country on this occasion. The hard work and skills of engineers are visible even in today’s program. The terminal building of Purnia Airport has been constructed in a record time of less than five months. Today, this terminal has been inaugurated, and the first commercial flight has also been flagged off. Our Aviation Minister, Shri Naidu ji, is also present here; let us give him a big round of applause, because he is the one ensuring flights from here. With this new airport, Purnia is now on the aviation map of the country. From now on, Purnia and the Seemanchal region will have direct connectivity with major cities and trade centres across the country. Friends, The NDA government is also connecting this entire region with modern hi-tech rail services. Today also, Iflagged off Vande Bharat, Amrit Bharat, and passenger trains. The new Araria–Galgalia rail line has been inaugurated, and the foundation stone of the new Vikramshila–Kataria rail line has also been laid. Friends, Just a few days ago, the Government of Bharat took another major decision. The Mokama–Munger section of the Buxar–Bhagalpur high-speed corridor has been approved. This will greatly benefit industrial hubs like Munger, Jamalpur, and Bhagalpur. The government has also approved the doubling of the Bhagalpur–Dumka–Rampurhat rail line. Friends, Bihar’s development is essential for the nation’s development. And for Bihar’s development, the development of Purnia and Seemanchal is necessary. It is this region that suffered the most due to the misrule of RJD and Congress governments. But now, the NDA government is changing the situation. This region is now at the centre of development. Friends, Work is also underway to make Bihar self-reliant in the field of electricity. A 2,400-megawatt thermal power project has been launched in Pirpainti, Bhagalpur. Friends, The double-engine government of Bihar is committed to increasing the income of farmers and livestock rearers. Today, the foundation stone of the first phase of the Kosi–Mechi intra-state river link project has also been laid. This will expand the Eastern Kosi main canal, provide irrigation to lakhs of hectares of land, and make it easier to deal with the challenge of floods. Friends, Makhana (fox nut) cultivation has also been an important source of income for farmers in Bihar. But previous governments neglected makhana and the farmers who cultivated it. And I can confidently say that those who now roam around here had not even heard the word makhana before my government came. It is our government that has given makhana the priority it deserves. Friends, I had promised the people of Bihar that a National Makhana Board would be set up. Just yesterday, the Central Government issued a notification for the establishment of the National Makhana Board. The National Makhana Board will continuously work to ensure that makhana farmers get fair prices and that modern technology is adopted in this sector. Our government has approved a scheme of nearly 450 crore rupees for the development of the makhana sector. Friends, This pace of development in Bihar, this progress of Bihar, does not sit well with some people. Those who exploited Bihar for decades, who betrayed this soil, are not ready to accept that Bihar too can achieve new milestones. You can see thousands of crores worth of development projects are underway in every sector of Bihar. Major events like Rajgir hosting the Hockey Asia Cup, historic construction works like the Aunta–Simaria bridge, and Made in Bihar locomotives being exported all the way to Africa are happening. But Congress and RJD cannot digest this progress. Every time Bihar moves forward, these people start insulting Bihar. You must have seen recently that the Congress, which is an ally of RJD, compared Bihar to a ‘bidi’ on social media. Such is their hatred for Bihar! They ruined Bihar’s reputation through scams and corruption. And now, seeing Bihar’s progress, Congress and RJD are once again determined to defame the state. Brothers and sisters, People with such a mindset can never do any good for Bihar. Those who were only concerned with filling their own coffers, why would they ever care about the homes of the poor? Even a Congress Prime Minister had once admitted that when the Congress government sent 100 paise, 85 paise were looted in the middle.Now you tell me did money ever reach directly into the poor man’s account during the Congress-RJD government? By lighting the lantern (RJD’s symbol), their hands and feet grabbed that money, and they swallowed up 85 paise. Since the Corona pandemic, every poor family has been receiving free ration. Would Congress-RJD governments have ever provided you free food grain? Today, every poor family has the facility of free medical treatment worth up to 5 lakh rupees because of the Ayushman Bharat scheme. Could they ever have provided you free medical treatment when they could not even build hospitals for you? I want to ask you whether they could provide free medical treatment? Could they ever have cared for you? Friends, Congress and RJD are not only a threat to the honour of Bihar, but also to the very identity of Bihar. Today, a huge demographic crisis has happened in Seemanchal and across eastern Bharat because of infiltrators. People in Bihar, Bengal, Assam, and many other states are deeply worried about the safety of their sisters and daughters. That is why I announced the Demography Mission from the Red Fort. But look at the selfishness of their vote-bank politics. The Congress, RJD, and their entire ecosystem are busy advocating for infiltrators, protecting them, shamelessly raising slogans, and organising marches to defend those who have come illegally from abroad. These people want to gamble away both the resources and the security of Bihar and the country. But today, I want to make one thing very clear to them from the soil of Purnia. The RJD and Congress should listen carefully: every single infiltrator will have to leave. Putting a lock on infiltration is NDA’s firm responsibility. And I challenge those leaders who are standing up in defence, those who have come forward to shield the infiltrators. No matter how much effort you put in to protect infiltrators, we will continue to act on our resolve to remove them. Those who try to become a shield for infiltrators, listen carefully. Bharat’s law will prevail in Bharat and not the whims of infiltrators. This is Modi’s guarantee. Action will be taken against infiltrators, and the country will witness its positive results. For the noise that Congress and RJD are making in support of infiltrators, the people of Bihar and of the nation are going to give them a fitting reply. Friends, Congress and RJD have been out of power in Bihar for the last two decades. And undoubtedly, the biggest role in this belongs to the mothers and sisters of Bihar. Today, I bow especially to the mothers and sisters of Bihar. The worst sufferers of open killings, rapes, and kidnappings were my mothers and sisters of Bihar, the women of this land, in the RJD era. But under the double-engine government, those same women are becoming ‘Lakhpati Didis’ and ‘Drone Didis’. We are creating ‘Drone Didis’ today. Women are leading a massive revolution through Self-Help Groups. Especially under Nitish ji’s leadership, the success of the ‘Jeevika Didi’ movement has been unprecedented. Bihar has become an inspiration for the entire country. Friends, Even today, the Community Investment Fund worth nearly 500 crore rupees has been released for our sisters. 500 crore rupees! This amount will reach the cluster-level federations, which will empower self-help groups across villages. This will give women the opportunity to expand their potential. Friends, The only concern of RJD and Congress has always been their own family. They will never care for your families. But for Modi, you all are Modi’s family. That is why Modi says: ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. And what do these people do? Support for their family, and development for their family! Therefore, brothers and sisters, Modi cares about your expenses, Modi cares about your savings. Many festivals are around the corner in the coming days. This time, our government has given a very big gift to the poor and the middle class before Diwali and Chhath. Today is 15th September and exactly a week later, on 22nd September, the first day of Navratri, GST across the country will be drastically reduced. GST has been significantly lowered on most of the items of your daily needs. I especially want to tell my mothers and sisters present here that the cost of running the kitchen will become much less because of the reduced GST. Everything will become cheaper from toothpaste, soap, and shampoo to ghee and many food items. The prices of stationery needed for children’s studies will also go down. Buying new clothes and shoes for children during this festive season willalso become easier, because these too are going to be cheaper. When there is a government that cares for the poor, it works exactly in this way for the welfare of the poor. Friends, The sons of Purnia had shown the British the strength of Bharat in the freedom struggle. Today, once again, we have shown that same strength of the nation to the enemy through Operation Sindoor. And the brave son of Purnia also played a big role in this strategy. Be it the defence of the nation or the development of the nation, Bihar has always had a major contribution in Bharat’s progress. We must continue to accelerate this campaign of Bihar’s development in the same way. Once again, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to my brothers and sisters of Bihar for all the development projects. I commend the leadership of Nitish ji. I thank you all very much. Now, join me in saying with full strength: Bharat Mata ki – Jai! Bharat Mata ki – Jai! Bharat Mata ki – Jai! Thank you very much. *** MJPS/VJ/VK (Release ID: 2166912)