Manipur, literally meaning a bejewelled land and widely acknowledged as the sports capital of India, is also a melting pot of cultural and ethnic diversity. Surrounded by hills and interspersed with lush green valleys, the state has been progressing on all developmental fronts under the BJP rule and the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji at the Centre.
In fact, the double-engine government (with the BJP ruling both at the Centre and in the state) has ensured that the gap between Delhi and the North East is considerably bridged now. Our Prime Minister, during his visit to Manipur in January 2022, rightly said that the state has become “a symbol of a new work culture of change, peace and development”. To give an overview of the development pace in Manipur during the last five years of the BJP-led alliance government, infrastructural works and social welfare schemes in the state may be mentioned. Lately, our Prime Minister inaugurated 13 ambitious projects worth Rs 1,850 crore and also laid the foundation stone of nine more projects pegged at Rs 2,950 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also laid the foundation of five national highway projects to be built at a cost of Rs 1,700 crore. The construction of these highways running into a cumulative length of more than 110 kilometres, will boost road connectivity in the region. Additionally, the construction of a steel bridge over the Barak River on the National Highway 37 at a cost of over Rs 75 crore, will facilitate seamless and year-round connectivity between Manipur’s capital, Imphal, and Silchar in south Assam. The steel bridge will also reduce traffic congestion. Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), a total of 520.444 kilometres out of a total length of 2,918 kilometres have already been constructed and a total of six out of 56 targeted habitations have been connected.
Under the same scheme, a bridge over the Imphal River at 1.10 (Keisam Mapa) under the Sawombung block of Imphal East district, was inaugurated on August 30, 2021. A road from L031-Huimi to Tora in the hill district of Ukhrul was also constructed through the use of plastic waste under the PMGSY. The foundation stone of a ropeway project at Ibudhou Marjing in Imphal East district will also be laid by our Prime Minister.
Another barometer of the state’s progress is the implementation of health welfare schemes and the development of healthcare institutions. About 6.75 lakh people have benefited from the PM’s Ayushman Bharat scheme as well as the Manipur Government’s own CMHT health scheme. A total of 60,000 non-PM-JAY families have been covered under the state health scheme.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation of a state-of-the-art cancer hospital to be built at a cost of Rs 160 crore on a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) basis. As the name of Manipur is synonymous with sports, which is evident from the fact that our able-bodied sportspersons have always brought laurels to the country at the highest level, including the Olympic Games, the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre rightly decided to set up the National Sports University, the first of its kind, in the State. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji laid the foundation stone of the university’s proposed 325-acre campus in Imphal West district on March 16, 2018. Additionally, a Khelo India centre will come up in each of the 16 districts of Manipur.
To provide safe drinking water to the residents of Imphal city, the Rs 280-crore Thoubal Multipurpose Project has been initiated. The water supply scheme in the Senapati district headquarters has also been extended at a cost of Rs 51 crore. Regarding social welfare and security, over 15,040 houses have been sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin in Manipur. Apart from this, 5,354 vendors have benefited under the PM SVANidhi and PMMY schemes. Free LPG connections have been provided to 1.79 lakh beneficiaries under the PMUY in Manipur. The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of government residential quarters at New Checkon. This will be an integrated housing colony with modern amenities, to be built at the cost of Rs 390 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji recently laid the foundation stone of 72 projects worth more than Rs 130 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram.
To promote the handloom sector, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of two projects worth Rs. 36 crore. These include the ‘Mega Handloom Cluster’ at Nongpok Kakching in Imphal East district and the ‘Craft and Handloom Village’ at Moirang. The Mega Handloom Cluster will benefit about 17,000 weavers in the Imphal East district, while the Craft and Handloom Village will aid weaving households, and help harness the tourism potential of Moirang and the adjoining Loktak Lake. Both these projects will generate mass local employment.
Also, under the SAMARTH scheme, over 25,000 people have been skilled in the textiles sector. A total of 1,77,825 artisans and weavers from across all states and union territories in India are registered on the Government E-Marketplace (GeM). Manipur also occupies a pride of place on the cultural map of India. In recognition of the rich cultural heritage of the State, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji laid the foundation stone of the Manipur Institute of Performing Arts at Gurgaon, Haryana. The idea of building such an institute in Haryana was first coined in 1990. But the project did not take off due to the indecisive government. Now under BJP’s leadership, the institute will be built at a cost of more than Rs. 240 crore. The Manipur Institute of Performing Arts will further glorify the art and culture of the state.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of the Centre for Invention, Innovation, Incubation and Training (CIIT), the construction of which will entail an amount of Rs 200 crore. This will be the biggest PPP project in Manipur.
Under the National Bamboo Mission, plantation of economically important bamboo species on over 220 hectares of land has been undertaken in the state. As far as mobile phone connectivity is concerned, 2,387 mobile towers built at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore, have been dedicated to the people of Manipur. Other important new facilities in Manipur include the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) at Kangpokpi under the Enhancing Skill Development Infrastructure (ESDI) scheme and the office building of the State Directorate of Information and Public Relations.
The nation is already familiar that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a soft corner for the eight North-Eastern states & hence he refers to them as the ‘Ashta Lakshmi’ (the eight forms of the Goddess of Wealth). He has a grand vision to transform the region, which had remained neglected for a long time during the tenure of non-BJP governments, into the ‘growth engine’ of India. Our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji wears the Leirum Phee, a Manipuri stole, draped around his neck, to public meetings across India, which shows his immense love for the people of Manipur. The Government of India has also renamed Mount Harriet in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as Mount Manipur. The mountain peak is named to honour the memory of the war heroes of Manipur, who were exiled to the Andaman Islands following the historic Anglo-Manipur war of 1891.
The people of Manipur have put their complete faith in the BJP government. The state will continue making bigger strides on the path of development, as BJP will win with a greater margin by securing 40+ seats.
(This article has been authored by Thongam Biswajit Singh who is an Indian politician and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a member of the Manipur Legislative Assembly from the Thongju constituency in Imphal East district. He is the Minister for Public Works, Power, RD & PR, Information and Public Relations, Administrative Reforms, Textiles, Commerce and Industry.)
