PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the Pamban bridge, India’s first vertical lift sea bridge and flagged off train service linking Rameswaram island to the rest of the country. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin skipped the event. Modi flagged off a Coast Guard ship that sailed under the bridge and also laid foundation stone for and dedicated to the nation various rail and road projects totally worth over Rs 8,300 crore. In his address, Modi said the day marked the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami and that Lord Ram’s good governance is the foundation for nation building. He also outlined the connect Tamil Nadu had to Lord Ram by quoting Sangam era literature. On the fishermen issue vis-a-vis Sri Lanka, he said over the past decade, more than 3,700 fishermen have been brought back from Sri Lanka, including over 600 in the past year alone.

 

While Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin skipped the event and upped the ante on the delimitation issue saying Modi should allay the fears of the people on the proposed exercise. The PM, without naming anyone, hit back by picking the Tamil pitch. He batted for imparting medical education in Tamil medium to help the poor and said the State got 11 new medical colleges in recent years. Modi said efforts were on to take Tamil language, heritage to all corners of the world. Earlier, the Prime Minister prayed at the Ramanathaswamy temple here. Lauding the hard work of Tamil Nadu’s fisheries community, he said that over the past five years, Tamil Nadu has received substantial funds under the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, stressing the Government’s efforts to provide modern facilities for fishermen, including investments worth hundreds of crores in seaweed parks, fishing harbors, andlanding centres. Referring to several projectshe said work is progressing rapidly as regards the country’s firstbullet train, while modern trainslike Vande Bharat, Amrit Bharat, and Namo Bharat are making therail network more advanced.

 

Against the background of He noted that this increased funding has greatly contributed to Tamil Nadu’s economic and industrial growth. The PM, referring to beneficiaries from the State in respect of several initiatives, said that despite the increased allocation to Tamil Nadu, some ‘cry’ over funds. Beneficiaries include those under the PM Awas Yojana (over 12 lakh pucca houses built in Tamil Nadu), piped water suppy initiative for rural families (includes 1.11 crore families in TN), and over 1 crore treatments in Tamil Nadu under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, saving expenses of Rs 8,000 crore for families in the state. He also referred to over 1,400 Jan Aushadhi Kendras in the state and noted that under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, small farmers in TN received nearly Rs 12,000 crore. Also, state farmers benefited from the PM Fasal Bima Yojana, with claims amounting to Rs 14,800 crore.

 

Tamil Nadu’s railway budget has increased more than seven fold. The PM added that before 2014, rail projects in Tamil Nadu received only Rs 900 crore annually, while this year, the railway budget for Tamil Nadu exceeds Rs 6,000 crore. Since 2014, with the support of the Central Government, 4,000 kilometers of roads have been constructed in Tamil Nadu, and the project involving an elevated corridor to connect Chennai Port will be another example of remarkable infrastructure. The PM said the new Pamban bridge to Rameswaram symbolises the union of technology and tradition. He emphasised that a town “thousands of years old” is now connected by a 21st-century engineering marvel. Modi underlined that this bridge is India’s first vertical lift railway sea bridge, allowing big ships to sail underneath while enabling faster train travel.