New Delhi, Dec 6: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Ashtalakshmi Mahotsav at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi today. Welcoming all the dignitaries to the event, Modi remarked that it was the Mahaparinirvana Divas of Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar.
He added that the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar, which completed 75 years, is a great inspiration to all the citizens. Modi paid homage to Babasaheb Ambedkar on behalf of all the citizens of India.
Noting that Bharat Mandapam had been a witness to many national and international events over the past 2 years including the successful organization of G20 meeting,Modi remarked that today’s event was even more special. He added that the event had made the entire Delhi glisten with diverse shades of North-East India. Adding that the first Ashtalakshmi Mahotsav will be celebrated over the next 3 days, Modi said the event would display the potential of entire North-East India to the country and the world. He added that the event would witness many business agreements and also display various products from the North-East along with the culture, cuisine and other attractions. He further added that the event would also inspire the people from the achievements of various achievers, including Padma awardees who were present. Terming the event as unique and first of its kind, Modi said the event would open doors to huge investment opportunities in North East India. He added this was a great opportunity for the farmers, workers and craftsmen along with the investors across the world. Remarking that exhibitions at the event displayed the diversity and the potential of North-East India, Modi congratulated and gave his best wishes to the organizers of Ashtalakshmi Mahotsav, people of North-East India and the investors.
The Prime Minister said that in the last 100 to 200 years, everyone witnessed the rise of the Western world and the Western region has had an influence on the world at every level - economic, social and political. He added that India too had incidentally seen the influence of Western region and its role in its growth story. Modi remarked that after the West-centric period, the 21st century belongs to the East, that is Asia and India. Modi expressed his firm belief that in the times to come, India’s growth story also belongs to Eastern India, and Northeast in particular. He added that in the past decades, India had seen the emergence of big cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad.Modi stressed that in the coming decades, India will see the new potential of cities like Guwahati, Agartala, Imphal, Itanagar, Gangtok, Kohima, Shillong and Aizawl and events like Ashtalakshmi would play a major role in that.
Touching upon the Indian tradition, the Prime Minister said that Goddess Lakshmi is called the goddess of happiness, health and prosperity. Listing the eight forms of the Goddess Lakshmi, he added that all eight forms are worshipped whenever Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped. Similarly,Modi said that Ashtalakshmi of eight states was present in the Northeast of India namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. He added that the eight forms of Asthalakshmi are represented in these eight states of the North East.
Remarking that the first form was Adi Lakshmi, Modi said that the Adi culture is strongly spread in every state of our North East. Noting that every state of the North East India celebrated its own tradition and culture, the Prime Minister listed Cherry Blossom Festival of Meghalaya, Hornbill Festival of Nagaland, Orange Festival of Arunachal, Chapchar Kut Festival of Mizoram, Bihu of Assam, Manipuri Dance and added that there was such great diversity in the North East India.
Discussing the second form of Goddess Lakshmi - Dhan Lakshmi, the Prime Minister said the North East was blessed with abundant natural resources with a great confluence of minerals, oil, tea gardens and bio-diversity. He added that there was a huge potential of renewable energy and this blessing of "Dhan Lakshmi" was a boon for the entire North East.
Highlighting that the third form of Goddess Lakshmi - Dhanya Lakshmi was very kind to the North East, Modi said that the North East was famous for natural farming, organic farming and millets. He expressed that India was proud of Sikkim being the first fully organic state of India. Modi remarked that Rice, bamboo, spices and medicinal plants grown in the North East bore witness to the power of agriculture there. He added that the North East had a major role to play in the solutions that today's India wants to give to the world related to healthy lifestyle and nutrition.
Talking about the fourth form of Asthalakshmi - Gaja Lakshmi, Shri Modi described that Goddess Gaja Lakshmi was seated on a lotus with elephants around her. He noted that the North East had vast forests, national parks like Kaziranga, Manas-Mehao and other wildlife sanctuaries. He further added that there were amazing caves and attractive lakes. Modi remarked that the blessings of Gajalakshmi have the power to make the North East the most spectacular tourist destination in the world.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the North East was known for creativity and skill which was represented by the fifth form of Asthalakshmi - Santan Lakshmi, which meant productivity and creativity. He added that the skill of handlooms and handicrafts like Muga Silk of Assam, Moirang Phi of Manipur, Wankhei Phi, Chakheshang Shawl of Nagaland would win everyone's heart. He further added that there were dozens of such Geographical Indication (GI) tagged products which showcased the crafts and creativity of the North East.
Discussing the sixth Lakshmi of Ashtalakshmi -Veer Lakshmi which symbolises the confluence of courage and power, Shri Modi highlighted that North East was a symbol of the power of women. He cited the example of the Nupi Lan movement of Manipur which showed women power. Modi said that the way in which women of North East raised their voice against slavery will always be recorded in golden letters in the history of India. He added that brave women from the folk tales to our freedom struggle like Rani Gaidinliu, Kanakalata Barua, Rani Indira Devi, Lalnu Ropiliani have inspired the entire country.Modi said that even today, the daughters of North East were enriching this tradition. He added that the entrepreneurship of the women of North East gave a great strength to the entire North East, which had no parallel.
Remarking that the seventh Lakshmi of Ashtalakshmi - Jai Lakshmi meant one who bestows fame and glory, the Prime Minister said that today, the North East had a major stake in the expectations from the whole world towards India. He added that while India is focusing on global connectivity of its culture and trade, the North East is the one which connects India with the infinite opportunities of South Asia and East Asia.
Touching upon the eighth Lakshmi of Ashtalakshmi - Vidya Lakshmi, symbolising knowledge and education, Modi noted that many major centers of education in the creation of modern India were in the North East like IIT Guwahati, NIT Silchar, NIT Meghalaya, NIT Agartala, and IIM Shillong. He added that the North East had already got its first AIIMS while the country's first National Sports University was being built in Manipur. He noted that the North East had given many great sports persons like Mary Kom, Baichung Bhutia, Mirabai Chanu, Lovelina, Sarita Devi to the country. Modi remarked that today, the North East had also started to move forward in technology-related start-ups, service centers and industries like semiconductors with thousands of youth working in these. He added that the region was becoming a major center of education and skills for the youth.
“Ashtalakshmi Mahotsav is a celebration of the better future of the North East”, exclaimed the Prime Minister. He added that it was a celebration of the new dawn of development, which would give impetus to the mission of Viksit Bharat. Modi remarked that today there was great enthusiasm for investment in the North East and in the last decade, everyone had witnessed an amazing journey of development of the North East Region. Terming the journey was rather not an easy one, Modi said that the Government had taken every possible step to connect the states of the North East with India's growth story. Adding that the development in the north east was poor by the previous governments due to lesser number of seats and votes, Modi highlighted that it was Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government that for the first time created a separate ministry for the development of the North East.
Emphasising that in the last decade, the Government had worked tirelessly to reduce the distance between Delhi and people of North East, Modi said that the Union ministers had visited the North East states more than 700 times and have spent a long time with the people there which had created an emotional connect between the government and the North East and its development. This, he said, had given an amazing pace to the development there. Citing a policy made in the 1990s to speed up the development of the North East, under which, more than 50 ministries of the central government had to invest 10 percent of their budget in the North East, Modi highlighted that his Government had given much greater grants in the last 10 years as compared since 1990’s. He added that in the last decade alone, more than Rs 5 lakh crore was spent in the North East under the above scheme which showed the priority of the current government towards the North East.
The Prime Minister noted that the Government had started many special schemes for the North East like PM-DevINE, Special Infrastructure Development Scheme and North East Venture Fund. He added that these schemes had created many new employment opportunities. Modi noted that the Government had also started the Unnati Scheme to promote the industrial potential of the North East. He said that when a better environment is created for new industries, new jobs would also be created. Remarking that the semiconductor sector was new for India, Modi said the Government chose Assam to give impetus to this new sector. He added that when such new industries are set up in the North East, investors from the country and the world would explore new possibilities there.
“We are connecting the Northeast with the trinity of Emotion, Economy and Ecology”, said Modi. He added that the Government was not just building infrastructure in the North East, but also laying a strong foundation for the future. Remarking that the biggest challenge for the North East was connectivity in the past decades with lack of train facilities to many states, Modi said that their government focused a lot on physical infrastructure and social infrastructure after 2014. This, he added, led to tremendous improvement in both the quality of infrastructure and the quality of life of the people in the North East.Modi said the Government also accelerated the implementation of projects pending for many years. Citing the example of the Bogi-Beel bridge, Modi said that now the journey between Dhemaji and Dibrugarh could be done in just one or two hours, as compared to a whole day journey before the completion of the long pending Bogi-Beel bridge.
“About 5 thousand kilometers of national highway projects have been completed in the last decade”, said Modi. He added that the projects like Sela tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, the border roads in Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram had expanded a strong road connectivity. Recollecting that India presented the vision of India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (I-MAC) to the world during the G-20 last year, Modi said I-MAC would connect India's North East with the world.
Touching upon the rail connectivity of North East which had increased manifold, the Prime Minister said that the work of connecting all the capitals of the states of North East by rail was about to be completed. He added that the first Vande Bharat train had also started its operation in the North East. Modi highlighted that in the last ten years, the number of airports and flights in the North East had almost doubled. He added that work was underway to build waterways on the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers while water connectivity was also improving from the Sabroom Landport.
Noting that the work was progressing rapidly on mobile and gas pipeline connectivity, Shri Modi remarked that every state of North East was being connected to the North East Gas Grid and more than 1600 km long gas pipeline was being laid. He added that the Government was also focusing on internet connectivity with more than 2600 mobile towers being installed in the states of North East. He further noted that more than 13 thousand kilometers of optical fiber was laid in the North East. Shri Modi was pleased that 5G connectivity had reached all the states of North East.
Highlighting the unprecedented work done in the social infrastructure in the North East, the Prime Minister remarked that Medical colleges were expanded along with construction of Modern facilities for the treatment of diseases like cancer. He added that under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, lakhs of patients in the North East had received free treatment.Modi emphasised that the government had implemented the Ayushman Vaya Vandana Card, which would ensure free treatment to senior citizens above the age of 70 years.
Modi said that apart from connectivity of the North East, the Government had also emphasized on its tradition, textile and tourism. He added that the benefit of this is that the people are now coming forward in large numbers to explore the North East. Adding that the number of tourists visiting the North East has also almost doubled in the last decade, Modi said that new businesses and employment opportunities had risen due to the increase in investment and tourism. He added that from infrastructure to integration, from connectivity to closeness, from economic to emotional, this entire journey has taken the development of the North East to new heights.
The Prime Minister stressed that the youth of the Ashtalakshmi states are a great priority of the Government of India and they have always wanted development. Emphasising that there was an unprecedented public support for permanent peace seen in every state of the North East in the last decade, Modi said it was due to the efforts of the central and state governments, thousands of youth had left the path of violence and adopted a new path of development. He added that in the last decade, many historic peace agreements have been signed in the North East and the border disputes between the states had also progressed in a very cordial manner. This, he said, had reduced the cases of violence in the North East to a great extent. Adding that AFSPA had been removed from many districts, Shri Modi remarked that together, we should write a new future for Ashtalakshmi and the government is taking every step for this.
The Prime Minister desired that the products of North East should reach every market of the world and in this direction the products of every district were being promoted under the One District One Product campaign. He added that one can see many products of the North East in the exhibitions at the rural haat bazaar in AshthaLakshmi Mahotsav. “I promote the mantra of Vocal for Local for the products of North East”, exclaimed Modi. He said that he tried to present the products from the North East to the foreign guests and this would give recognition to the wonderful art and craft of the North East at the international level. Modi urged the citizens to make the products of North East a part of their lifestyle.
Modi extended an invitation to the people to attend the Madhavpur Mela to be held in Porbandar, Gujarat. He added that the Madhavpur Mela symbolised the celebration of the marriage of Lord Krishna and Goddess Rukmini, a daughter of the North East. He urged all the people in the North East to join the Mela in 2025. Concluding his speech, Shri Modi expressed confidence that with the blessings of Lord Krishna and Ashtalakshmi, India will definitely see the North East setting a new paradigm of development in the 21st century.
The Union Minister for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Tripura, Dr. Manik Saha, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma, Chief Minister of Sikkim, Prem Singh Tamang and Union Minister of State for Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region Dr. Sukanta Majumdar were present among other dignitaries at the event.
