Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that his Government is committed to provide road connectivity to all the rural habitations in the country.

He said 90 percent of the rural habitations are now connected by road. He was addressing a gathering at Kollam in Kerala after dedicating the Kollam Bypass to the Nation. The Prime Minister said that the last man in the queue is his Government’s concern. The Prime Minister urged the Kerala Government to expedite implementation of various centrally-sponsored projects in the State.

Earlier in the day, Mr Modi launched and laid foundation stone of several development projects, worth over 1,500 crore rupees, at Balangir in Odisha .

Mr Modi dedicated to the nation electrification of Jharsuguda-Vizianagaram and Sambalpur-Angul lines spanning 813 kilometres completed at a cost of around 1,000 crores. Prime Minister also inaugurated the doubling of Barpali-Dungaripali and Balangir-Deogaon railway lines. He also inaugurated the 15 km-long Balangir-Bichhupali railway line.

Later, addressing a public meeting, Mr Modi said, his government has taken five steps for the overall development of the country. These, he said, are education for children, employment for youth, medicine for old people, irrigation for farmers and public hearing for common people. Mr Modi said, another aspect has been added to this and that is 10 percent reservation for Economically Weaker Sections of general category in education and jobs.