Modi announces Rs 11,000 cr package for coastal poor

Gandhinagar, Mar 6 (UNI) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today announced a Rs 11,000 crore five-year special package 'Sagarkhedu Sarvangi Vikas' for people living on the seashore in the state.

The Chief Minister, announcing the special package on the floor of the state assembly, said Rs 11,000 crore has been earmarked for 60 lakh population living in 3,000 villages of the 38 coastal talukas in the state. ''This is a historic event as never before in the past has any government focused its attention on it's population in this manner,'' Mr Modi said.

The package, which will be implemented as ''Chief Minister's 12 point programme'', aims to provide Rs 7100 crore for the first year.

A total of 621 industrial projects of the order of Rs 1,68,000 crores of investment were signed during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit with location in these 38 coastal talukas thereby creating a potential of 5,35,000 jobs, he said.

Since the benefits do not trickle down to the local population, the 12-point package has been announced whose main aim is to focus on empowering the downtrodden masses and their all-round development along the coastline of Gujarat, Mr Modi said.

The package focuses on a span of five year capacity-building and training for upgradation of skills in a big way. Each of these talukas will get at least one ITI in the immediate future, he said.

Further, it will have special part-time training programmes in 14 trades pertaining to coastal areas.

The 12 parameters the package focuses are- improving efficiency, education, coastal national security, employment, health of fisherfolk, drinking water, housing, soil conservation, water management, energy development, capacity enhancement and salt-pan workers development.

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