Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V. Muraleedharan has called upon the youth to strive for making India an advanced nation through education and skill development.
Mr. Muraleedharan interacted with the beneficiaries of various Central government schemes at a programme organised at the Port Kalavani Auditorium here on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that during the last eight years, the Central government has introduced several schemes for the alleviation of poverty. The youth were being provided skill development training. Due to its friendly relations with various nations, India was able to bring back our citizens from various countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and thousands of students stranded in Ukraine during the war, he said.
Freedom fighter Pingali Venkaiah, who had designed the national flag, was introduced to the world as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Union Minister said. He called upon the youth to strive for maing the nation number one in the world in the commercial and technology sectors in the next 25 years. During the pandemic crisis, the Centre had supplied 5 kg rice to the poor twice a month, he said.
The Centre has introduced the Jal Jeevan Mission to provide safe drinking water to all citizens. An amount of ₹2,000 was credited to the accounts of the farmers directly thrice a year, ₹10,000, ₹20,000 and ₹50,000 was sanctioned to street vendors in three instalments to enable them revive their business, he said.
Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao spoke on the achievements of the Centre and various programmes introduced for the benefit of the poor to mark the 75 years of Indian Independence.
Zero balance accounts and Jan Dhan accounts were opened for the benefit of the poor.
MLC P.V.N. Madhav said that the Centre was implementing several schemes to provide electricity, cooking gas and drinking water to beneficiaries. The Swachh Bharat programme was launched to stop open defecation.
Earlier, the Union Minister interacted with beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana, PM Ujwal Yojana, Poshan Abhiyan, Matru Vandana Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission and Jal Jeevan Mission, One Nation – One Ration Card, PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana and other schemes.
Joint Collector K.S. Viswanathan, DRDA Project Director B. Lakshmipathi, DMHO K. Vijaya Lakshmi, ST Commission Member Lily and officials of various departments were present.
