Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry,
Distinguished guests,
My dear friends,
The divinity of Puducherry has brought me back to this holy land once again. Exactly three years ago, I was here in Puducherry. This land has been home to sages, scholars and poets. It also became home to revolutionaries of Mother India. Mahakavi Subramania Bharathi stayed here. Sri Aurobindo set foot on these shores. Puducherry has a presence on India’s western and eastern coast. This land is a symbol of diversity. People speak five different languages, practice different faiths but live as one.
Friends,
Today, we celebrate the starting of various development works that will improve the life of the people of Puducherry. These works cover diverse sectors. It gives me immense pleasure to inaugurate the re-built Mairie Building. The building has been recreated in its old form retaining the heritage. This will add to the beauty of Beach Promenade and attract more tourists.
Friends,
India needs world class infrastructure to cater to our development needs. It would make you happy that the foundation stone to four lane the NH 45-A is being laid. This is a 56 Kilometer Sattnathapuram – Nagapattinam stretch covering Karaikal District. Certainly, connectivity will improve. Economic activity will pick speed. At the same time, it will improve access to the holy Saneeswaran Temple. It will also provide easy interstate connectivity to the: Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health. And Nagor Dargah.
Friends,
The Government of India has made many efforts to improve rural and coastal connectivity. The agriculture sector will gain from this. Across India our farmers are innovating. It is our duty to ensure their produce gets good markets. Good roads do exactly that. The four laning of the road will also draw industries in this area and generate job opportunities for local youth.
Friends,
Prosperity is closely linked to good heath. In the last seven years, India has made many efforts to improve fitness and wellness. In this context, I am delighted to lay the foundation stone for 400 meters synthetic athletic track at the sports complex here. This is a part of the Khelo India scheme. It will nurture sporting talent among the youth of India. Sports teaches us teamwork, ethics and above all, it teaches us sportsman spirit. With the coming of good sports facilities to Puducherry, youth from this state can excel in national and global sports meets. The 100 bed girls hostel constructed at Lawspet inaugurated today is one more initiative to help sporting talent. This hostel will accommodate hockey, volleyball, weightlifting kabaddi and handball players. The hostel students will train under SAI coaches.
Friends,
One sector that will play a key role in the coming years is healthcare. Nations that invest in healthcare will shine. In line with our objective to provide quality health care to all, I am inaugurating the Blood Centre in JIPMER. This project will cost about twenty eight crore rupees. This new facility will accommodate advanced facilities for long term storage of blood, blood products and stem cells banking. The facility will function as a research laboratory and a training centre for personnel training in all aspects of transfusion. As you are aware, the healthcare budget received a big boost in this year’s budget.
Friends,
The great Tiruvalluvar has said:-
கேடில் விழுச்செல்வம் கல்வி ஒருவற்கு
மாடல்ல மற்றை யவை
It means: Learning and Education are the true wealth while all other things are not stable. To promote quality healthcare, we need quality health professionals. Phase-I project of Medical College Building at Karaikal New Campus is a step in this direction. This new environment friendly complex will have all modern teaching facilities required for teaching MBBS students.
Friends,
The coast is the spirit of Puducherry. There is so much potential in fisheries, port, shipping and the blue economy. I am honoured to lay the foundation of Puducherry Port Development under Sagarmala Scheme. Once completed, it will help our fishermen who have been using this port for venturing into sea for fishing operations. It will provide much needs sea connectivity to Chennai. This will facilitate the cargo movement for industries of Puducherry and ease load on Chennai port. It will open up possibilities of passenger traffic among the coastal cities.
Friends,
Puducherry has done well in promoting Direct Benefit Transfer to beneficiaries under various welfare schemes. This makes people empowered in making their choices. Puducherry has got rich human resources because of various educational institutions present, both in government and private sector. It has potential for a lot of industrial and tourism development that will provide a lot of employment and opportunity. The people of Puducherry are talented. This land is beautiful. I am here to personally assure all possible support from my Government for the development of Puducherry. Congratulations to the people of Puducherry once again for the development works launched today.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Vanakkam.
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DS/SH
