Bhopal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the Ken-Betwa river linking project in Madhya Pradesh on December 25, the birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Thursday. Yadav was speaking to reporters on the completion of one year of his government in the state.
On December 11, 2023, Yadav was formally elected as the BJP legislature party leader and took oath as the CM two days later. “On the 100th birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who dreamt of inter-connecting the country’s rivers to augment water resources, PM Modi will lay the foundation stone of the ambitious Ken-Betwa National River Linking Project on December 25 in MP’s Chhatarpur district,” said Yadav.
The project to link the Ken and Betwa rivers will benefit Chhatarpur, Panna, Tikamgarh, Niwadi, Damoh, Shivpuri, Datia, Raisen, Vidisha and Sagar districts of the state, he said. It will provide water for irrigation in 10.62 lakh hectares in the Bundelkhand region, spread across Madhya Pradesh (8.11 lakh hectares) and Uttar Pradesh (2.51 lakh hectares), besides supplying drinking water to 41 lakh population in MP and 21 lakh in UP, he said.
MP has also decided to implement the Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal river linking project which will benefit Guna, Shivpuri, Sehore, Dewas, Rajgarh, Ujjain, Agar-Malwa, Indore, Shajapur, Mandsaur and Morena districts of the state, said Yadav. This project will provide water for irrigation in 6.13 lakh hectares in MP and PM Modi will lay its foundation stone on December 17 in Jaipur, Yadav said.
Yadav said MP will observe 2025 as the ‘Industries Year’ and Modi will inaugurate the Global Investors Summit, which will be held in Bhopal on February 24-25. Ahead of the investors’ meet, the state government has been organising Regional Industry Conclaves across MP and conducting roadshows and conferences in the state and abroad, he said.
Because of these joint efforts, the state has received investment proposals worth Rs 4 lakh crore which will generate 3 lakh jobs, he said. The CM said that on the completion of one year of the BJP government in MP, two programmes were launched to highlight the development works of his administration and link more eligible people with welfare schemes.
‘Jankalyan Parv’ (public welfare festival) and ‘Mukhyamantri Jankalyan Abhiyan’ (public welfare campaign) will run in December and January. During Janlakyan Parv, to be held between December 11 and December 26, foundation stones of several development works will be laid and several completed projects will be inaugurated, Yadav said.
As part of the Jankalyan Abhiyan, which will run from December 11 to January 26, people from poor families, youths, farmers and women who are eligible for benefits under various welfare schemes will be identified through a survey and linked with these programmes, Yadav said. Under the state’s popular ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme, Rs 19,212 crore has been given to 1.29 crore women, the CM said.
Besides the 1,450-km-long ‘Ram Van Gaman Path’, the government has also decided to develop ‘Shri Krishna Pathey’ by connecting all places associated with Lord Krishna, including Sandipani Ashram, Narayana village, Ujjain, Janapav (Indore) and Amjhera (Dhar). Madhya Pradesh BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma and Deputy CMs Jagdish Devda and Rajendra Shukla also addressed the event.
