Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced a scheme for giving loans up to Rs 1 crore to small and marginal fishermen for buying modern boats so that they can venture into the deep sea for a better catch.
"We are bringing a scheme for poor fishermen, who cannot go deep into the sea due to the small boats they own and cannot catch enough fish," he said at a public meeting at Diu in the Union Territory of Daman and Diu.
"Under the scheme, the draft of which is almost ready and which will be implemented all over the country, we will ask poor fishermen to form a group in their villages. The group will be given a loan up to Rs 1 crore under the MUDRA scheme. The Centre will contribute 50 per cent of funds," Modi said.
"They (group) will be given big fishing boats which can go beyond 12 nautical miles, where catch is available in large numbers. Small fishermen, instead of fishing alone, can be part of such groups and share profits," he said.
The Prime Minister said people having suggestions to improve the scheme could convey them to the administration of Daman and Diu.
"We have taken various steps to develop the coastal region of the country. We have started the Sagarmala project under which we will invest Rs 8 lakh crore," Modi said at a public meeting at Diu, situated on the sea coast.
Visiting the coastal district on the International Women's day, the Prime Minister said he was glad that Diu did not have a skewed sex-ratio like elsewhere in India.
"Today, if we have to give a message on saving the girl child, this is the right place. I am fortunate to address the people of Diu today on the International Women's Day,"he said.
"In the entire country, there is a vast difference between the numbers of men and women. Somewhere, only 800 girls are born per 1000 boys, while somewhere it is 850 or 875 at some other place... Which has created an imbalance in the society," Modi said.
A campaign is being launched under the "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" scheme in the entire country but this is a different place as sex ratio is in favour of women here. As against 1,000 men there are 1040 women, Modi said.
Modi said many girls drop out of school due to lack of
toilet facilities.
"To improve this situation, we started a movement in Gujarat to build toilets in schools and it was a success. Now, we are replicating it across the country. As a result, construction of separate toilets for girls in schools has begun. Now most schools have such facilities," he said.
"Though it was not a difficult task, it was somehow not initiated even after so many years of Independence," Modi said taking a dig at the previous Congress governments.
He said the Congress dispensation headed by Indira Gandhi nationalised banks in the country, saying "banks must serve the poor".
"But even after so many years, have you seen any poor standing on the threshold of a bank? Were poor citizens able to open bank accounts," he asked.
The Prime Minister said his NDA government started 'Jan Dhan Yojna' "to change this scenario and enabled opening crores of bank accounts".
"We compelled banks to serve the poor. Now, 21 crore poor citizens have Ru-Pay ATM card, a facility which was earlier restricted to the rich only," he said.
To boost religious tourism, Modi also announced construction of a bridge connecting Dwarka in Gujarat with Bet Dwarka, an island in the Arabian sea.
"One of our projects is to build an iconic bridge between Dwarka and Bet Dwarka at a cost of Rs 500 crore. Design of the bridge is currently being finalised. We intend to do ground breaking ceremony for this project in near future," the PM added.
He also praised the Union territory for producing 10 MW of solar power against its electricity consumption oft 9 MW.
Addressing a gathering at the courtyard of Somnath temple in Gujarat earlier in the day, Modi recalled his recent visit to his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi and said he was fortunate to have received the blessings of both Kashi Vishwanath and Somnath Mahadev.
"Day before yesterday, I received the blessings of Vishwanath and today, I bowed down at the feet of Somnath. I am fortunate to have the blessings of both Somnath Mahadev and of Kashi Vishwanath," he said.
