Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reached the capital of Bihar for a one-day visit to attend the centenary year of Patna University. This was the first occasion since Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar broke the mahagathbandhan and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government in the state, that he shared the stage with the Prime Minister.
Nitish Kumar was personally present at the airport to receive Narendra Modi, from there upon the wish of the Prime Minister, both the leaders went to visit the newly opened Bihar Museum. Modi also launched about half-a-dozen schemes worth 5,000 crores including a bridge across the Ganga under the Namami Gange Programme which will cost about 1,200 crores, in Mokama, about 96 km from Patna. He also laid the foundation stone for national highway projects.
Other than this he also laid the foundation stone for the four-laning of Aunta-Simariya section of NH-31 and the construction of six-lane Ganga Setu at a cost of Rs 1,161 crore.
While addressing the event, Nitish Kumar demanded that the Patna University should be given the status of a Central University. However the Prime Minister tactfully avoided the demand of Nitish Kumar, saying that Central universities were the talks of yesterday, he had come there to give something new, to take the university to the global level. He announced that top 10 private and top 10 public universities will be given Rs.10,000 crore in the next five years. “All the universities of the country can compete for this,” he added.
Modi said that the Centre has changed the fate of Bihar by launching so many schemes and thanked the Bijhar government to adopt the schemes introduced by the Centre. “The Bihar government and the Centre are working in tandem to help the state prosper,” Modi said.
During his address, the Prime Minister praised the commitment and the dedication of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the development of Bihar. Speaking about the achievements of the University, Modi said that the Patna University has contributed to knowledge and the civil services for over a 100 years now and it is time now that it moves forward in the direction of innovation and wealth creation.
“The seed of education was sowed in Patna a century ago… Today, at least one in the top five posts in India is an alumni of this grand institution,” he added.
“My government took an important step towards unshackling the IIMs, freeing them from the clutches of restrictions and regulations set by the government. “We intend to do the same for our universities and ensure that our centres of higher learning figure among the best 500 in the world,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister also attacked the previous UPA government saying that they always dragged India behind rather than working for its development. Pointing out the Modi government’s initiative for the building of the roadways, Modi said that the previous leaders were skeptical of developing roadways, the NDA government is in the process of doubling the pace of road building as part of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna.
The Prime Minister also assured that unlike the UPA government, all the projects whose foundation stones are being laid will be completed. He said that he met many people from the rural India and the government is working tirelessly to fulfil their aspirations. Once again taking a jibe at the oppositions, Modi said that the other governments only made false promises as a part of their election campaigns and forget them as soon as they come to power. But his government is not like the rest of them, “we always launch a scheme and make sure that we prepare a roadmap to fulfil it too,” he said.
PM Narendra Modi also spoke about the current and former education system of India. Attacking the former Prime Ministers, Modi said that the former Prime Ministers were gone, but they left much good work for him. He further added that earlier the world considered India as a land of snakes, they used to think India means a land of ghosts and superstitions.
But when the youth of India started showing the world the real India at the fingertips in IT Revolution, the eyes of the world were opened. PM Modi said that there is no shortage of talent in India. “Today we have 65 percent of the population under 35 years of age. My Hindustan is young, the dreams of my Hindustan are also young,” he concluded.
The university’s famous alumni and BJP leaders-turned-critics Shatrughan Sinha and Yashwant Sinha were not present for the event. Shatrughan Sinha in a statement to the press just a day before the show had said that he was not invited to the event. He had expressed his pain saying that he was very attached to his alma mater and was very disappointed at not being invited.
But today while welcoming PM Modi to “his Patna University”, he tweeted, “…even I got an invitation, alas very late and with a very short notice…delayed by the ‘more loyal than the King’s people’ involved in the affair. So, though ‘Muhabbat Karne waale kam na honge…Teri mehfil mein lekin hum na honge‘. However, my best wishes.”
Vice Chancellor Ras Bihari Prasad Singh, meanwhile said that Sinha including RJD president Lalu Yadav and Yashwant Sinha were on the guest list but could not be sent the invitation due to the delay in printing. “We are going to organise a mega event for the centenary on December 10 in which all former students of the university will be invited,” he added.
