Ahmedabad : Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for development projects worth about ₹1,400 crore in Ahmedabad today. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and other dignitaries attended. Around ₹1,024 crore of the works are being carried out by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The remaining ₹400 crore or so covers projects completed or started through the state’s Roads and Buildings Department and the Government of India.
Slum rehabilitation and schools
Shah said residents of Ramapir No Tekro are being given private flats under the slum rehabilitation scheme that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched in 2007 and the state government is now carrying forward. Once the full project is done, more than 55,000 people will have social security, recreation, education and healthcare facilities in one complex. He said the scheme aims to rehouse nearly one lakh slum dwellers in Ahmedabad.
Shah said the Congress-led governments in the Centre and the state, which he described as the Opposition party that ruled from 1947 to 1995, neglected areas like Ramapir No Tekro. He said change began with the election of the area’s first councillor in 1995, and that he became its MLA in 2012.
Two primary schools were inaugurated at the event. Shah said the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has turned all primary schools in the area into smart schools, and the Primary Education Committees of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency have done the same. He urged residents to put their children’s education first.
Infrastructure
- Bopal-Ghuma: The foundation stone was laid for a pump house to drain rainwater. Shah said he had promised the area would be free of waterlogging before 2029.
- ISKCON overbridge: Work began on the four-kilometre signal-free overbridge. Shah said the Sarkhej–Gandhinagar journey, which used to take two and a half hours, will be much shorter once it is finished in three years.
- Jalasapur Water Treatment Plant: Inaugurated at the event.
Shah said that, including today’s projects, works worth ₹25,000 crore have been completed in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency in the past seven years. He reiterated his aim of a “Green and Developed Gandhinagar”.
Anti-drug campaign
Shah referred to last Saturday’s joint meeting of the Union Home Ministry and Gujarat’s Home Department, which discussed implementing the new criminal laws, modernising the department and making Gujarat drug-free. He described drug abuse as something that harms young people’s health and concentration and fuels terrorism.
He said that after the goal of a Naxal-free India, the Modi government has set a target of a “Drug-Free India” by 31 December 2029. He appealed to people to make Gujarat drug-free before 31 December 2028.
- Helpline: Anyone reporting drug sales or use on 1033 will have their identity kept confidential, and strict action will follow.
- Control room: One will start working on 1 December, with action promised within three hours of receiving information.
- Prosecution: Arrangements have been made to put kingpins and operatives in jail.
- Treatment: De-addiction centres are being set up. Shah said there should be no shame in seeking treatment, and that identities will be kept confidential.
- Role of citizens: He asked teachers to hold tests and meet parents when they notice a change in a child’s behaviour, and asked parents and citizens to report drug activity in their neighbourhoods.
Shah said the fight cannot be won by the government alone. Speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, he said the government would not take a single step back. He also administered a pledge to residents to help make Gujarat drug-free.
He ended by greeting the people of Gujarat on Diwali and the Gujarati New Year, which begins tomorrow.