PM Modi improved lives of 60 crore poor citizens: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi improved the lives of 60 crore poor people in the country. What the Congress could not do for the poor in its 70 -year rule, Modi did it in five years, Shah said while greeting the prime minister on his 70th birthday, and wished for his long life so that he can "serve the nation".

Shah was attending the ground-breaking ceremony of a 24X7 water supply project for Gandhinagar, which is his Lok Sabha constituency, through video-conference. He said citizens of this country made Modi the Prime Minister in 2014 due to numerous pro-people works he had carried out as the chief minister of Gujarat.

"After Modiji became the Prime Minister, crores of people, around 60 crore poor citizens received electricity connections, gas connections, toilets, bank accounts and better health care under the Prime Minister Jan Arogya scheme," Shah said while attending the Gujarat government's event from Delhi.

"Modiji improved lives of 60 crore poor citizens. What the Congress couldn't do in 70 years of its rule, Modiji did it in just five years. He also strengthened our security by ordering surgical as well as airstrikes. He has put India on the forefront of the world map," the senior BJP leader said.

The Gujarat government on Thursday held the groundbreaking ceremony of its ambitious project of providing drinking water round-the-clock to nearly seven lakh people of Gandhinagar city and surrounding areas.

This project is a part of the Smart City project and would be complete in 36 months at a cost of Rs 229 crore, a government release said. Apart from the construction of filtration plants, the project encompasses laying water pipeline having a total length of 27 kilometres, it said.

To encourage judicious use of water, meters will also be installed for each connection. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on completion of this project, Gandhinagar will become the first city in the country providing 24X7 drinking water facility in every household. Shah thanked Rupani, his government and the entire administration for implementing this project in his constituency Gandhinagar.