Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that the highest priority of his government is welfare of the poor and as the country’s economy is growing, so is the government’s budget on schemes for the poor and development projects.

Mentioning large amounts being spent by his Government on various schemes, after launching a series of projects in Shirdi, Maharashtra, he said before 2014 too, people heard about big financial figures, but they were about corruption and scams running into lakhs of crores of Rupees.

Today, people hear about the lakhs of crores of Rupees being spent on different programmes, he said.

Addressing a large gathering, Modi said India will see true social justice when it is free of poverty and the poorest of the poor families get ample opportunities to make progress. He said his Government runs on the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’.

The prime minister said 1.10 crore Ayushman cards are being distributed on Thursday to eligible beneficiaries in Maharashtra and they will receive health insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh. The Government is spending Rs 70,000 crores on this scheme.

On the scheme for free ration to the poor, he said, the Government has already spent Rs 4 lakh crore and a similar amount has been provided for construction of pucca houses for the poor. The Prime Minister said this expenditure is six times more than what it was in the decade before 2014.

To provide tap water supply to every home of the poor, the Prime Minister said the government has spent more than Rs 2 lakh crore. Under PM Svanidhi Scheme, he said that street vendors are getting assistance up to thousands of rupees.

Modi said the Government has started a new scheme PM Vishwakarma Scheme which aids lakhs of families of carpenters, goldsmiths, potters and sculptors for the first time, and a government expenditure of more than Rs 13,000 crores has been provided.

Talking about small farmers, he said the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi had provided Rs 2.60 lakh crore to them and the amount included Rs 26000 crore for the small farmers of Maharashtra.

He said he was happy that the Maharashtra Government has started ‘Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana’ under which Maharashtra Shetkari families will get an extra Rs 6000, meaning local small farmers will get Rs 12,000 of Samman Nidhi, he said.

The prime minister inaugurated, dedicated to the nation and laid foundation stones of multiple development projects worth about Rs 7500 crores in sectors like health, rail, road, oil and gas in Shirdi, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.

The multiple development projects include Ayush Hospital at Ahmednagar Civil Hospital; electrification of Kurduwadi-Latur Road railway section (186 Km); 3rd & 4th railway lines connecting Jalgaon to Bhusaval (24.46 km); four-laning of Sangli to Borgaon section of NH-166 (Package-I); and additional facilities at Manmad Terminal of Indian Oil Corporation Limited.

Among other projects, he inaugurated the new Darshan Queue complex at Shirdi, dedicated to the nation the left bank (85km) canal network of the Nilwande Dam, and launched the ‘Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana’ benefiting more than 86 lakh farmer-beneficiaries.

The prime minister began his Maharashtra visit by performing pooja and darshan at Shri Saibaba Samadhi Temple, Shirdi and then did Jal Pujan of Nilwande Dam.

Work of Nilwande Dam, pending for five decades, had finally started today, he said. He expressed gratitude for getting the opportunity to perform Jal Pujan at the site.

He said the Darshan Queue Complex at Shri Saibaba Samadhi Temple will provide convenience to pilgrims from India and abroad. He said he had laid its foundation stone in October 2018.

The prime minister mentioned the sad demise of Baba Maharaj Satarkar of the Warkari community on Thursday morning. He paid tribute to the Baba Maharaj and recalled his work of social awareness by Kirtan and Pravachan and said it will keep inspiring generations to come.

Governor of Maharashtra Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were present on the occasion.