Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called upon the citizens of the country to celebrate Diwali this year with local products. He gave the slogan LOCAL For DIWALI this year and said that it is our commitment and responsibility to celebrate diwali with all locally produced items.

After  inaugurating and laying the foundation for 30 development projects in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, the PM began his speech in Banarasi dialect and thanked farmers of Poorvanchal and said that despite COVID-19 pandemic they produced bumper crops in their fields.   

Prime Minister said that there has been incredible work on the health sector and now Varanasi has become a hub of health facilities for not just the eastern part of the state but also for the whole country.

He said that a lot of development took place in the last 6 years and many projects have changed the very look of the city. Varanasi is developing in every aspect and it is benefiting the people of the Poorvanchal area of the state who don’t have to go to big cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

Talking about the recent farm bills PM said that they are going to benefit the farmers as now middlemen are being excluded from the system. He said that the PM SVAnidhi scheme is helping the street vendors  who faced hardship faced during Corona and the Property Card scheme will end many disputes in villages.

The Prime Minister also interacted with the beneficiaries of these projects during the event.

While talking to well known basketball player Prashanti Singh, PM Narendra Modi said that people of Kashi converted challenges into opportunities and the facilities at the housing complex for players in Sampurnanand Stadium will provide ease of sporting to the players and people of Kashi.

While talking to Vipin Kumar Agrawal, a businessman from Varanasi , PM suggested maintaining cleanliness in the premises and providing better facilities to workers in industrial areas.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi adityanath termed the projects as a pre-Diwali Gift by the PM to the people of Kashi. He said that currently projects worth around 8900 crore rupees are going on in Kashi. Till date the Prime Minister has sanctioned projects worth 18 thousand crores to his constituency Varanasi.

Yogi Adityanath said that Projects worth around 200 crores were also ready for inauguration but due to the ongoing election process here for graduate MLC elections they couldn’t be inaugurated.

The projects which inaugurated today include Sarnath Light and Sound show, upgradation of Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital Ramnagar, sewerage related works, infrastructure facilities for protection and conservation of cows, multipurpose seed storehouse, agriculture produce warehouse of 100 MT, IPDS phase 2, a housing complex for players in Sampurnanand Stadium, Varanasi city smart lighting work, along with 105 Anganwadi Kendras and 102 Gau Ashray Kendras.