"Our budget announcement is guarantee of empowering poor": PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the Interim Budget which was announced earlier this week guarantees the development of every section in the society adding that this budget further strengthens the government's policy in eradicating poverty in the nation.

Addressing a public meeting in Sambalpur, Prime Minister Modi said, "The country's new budget has come just two days ago. This budget further strengthens the policy following which 25 crore people of the country have come out of poverty in the last 10 years. The budget announcement is a guarantee of empowering the poor. Be it our youth, women, farmers, fishermen, this budget guarantees everyone's development. Guarantee of fulfilling guarantees is the meaning of Modi guarantee.

"Stating that the BJP-led Centre has brought a new revolution in the usage of LED bulbs resulting in a reduction in the cost of electricity bills, PM Modi said, "In the last 10 years, we provided electricity even to those villages which were in darkness even after the independence of the country. Now our effort is that the electricity bill of the poor of the country also becomes zero and in this budget, rooftop solar power scheme has been announced for 1 crore families."

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Sambalpur.

Prime Minister Modi also laid the foundation stone of projects worth more than Rs 68,000 crore in Sambalpur, Odisha aimed at boosting the energy sector involving natural gas, coal and power generation apart from important projects of road, railway and higher education sector.

PM Modi underlined that the people of Odisha belonging to the poor section, labourers, working class, business owners and farmers among all other sections of society will reap the benefits of today's development projects.

He further added that it will also create thousands of new employment opportunities for the youth of Odisha.

The Prime Minister said that in order to make Odisha a hub of education, and skill development, continuous efforts have been put in by the Central government.

"The fate of Odisha's youth has changed with the setting up of modern educational institutes like IISER Berhampur and Bhubaneshwar's Institute of Chemical Technology in the last decade. Now, with the establishment of IIM Sambalpur as a modern institute of management, the state's role is being further strengthened," PM Modi said.

Prime Minister is on a visit to Odisha and Assam on February 3-4.