From national highways to COVID hospital: PM Modi to launch 22 projects in Manipur today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Manipur on Tuesday to inaugurate 13 projects and lay foundation stones of nine more, according to Chief Secretary Rajesh Kumar.

The 22 projects taken together are worth Rs 4,800 crore, he said.

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Elaborate security arrangements have been made in Manipur for the day’s programme, which will be attended by Governor La Ganesan, Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Education Rajkumar Ranjan Singh.

Meanwhile, insurgent outfits have registered their protest against PM Modi’s visit to the state.

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CorCom, an umbrella body of several militant organisations, said in a release that a state-wide shut down will come into effect from 1 am of Tuesday and continue till PM’s departure.

The group claimed that attempts were being made to “expand colonial administration” in Manipur.

Another outfit, National Revolutionary Front, Manipur (NRFM), said that there was no reason to celebrate the visit of the prime minister to Manipur.

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PM Modi will also inaugurate three projects under the ‘Imphal Smart City Mission,’ developed at a cost of more than Rs 170 crore.

The projects for which foundation stone will be laid include a state-of-the-art cancer hospital in Imphal worth nearly Rs 160 crore on public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

“This cancer hospital will greatly benefit the people of state in reducing the out of the pocket expenditure, who otherwise have to go outside the state for availing cancer related diagnostic and treatment services,” the PMO said in a statement.

PM Modi on Monday informed via Twitter that he will also lay the foundation stone of as many as “five national highway projects, a Centre for Invention, Innovation, Incubation and Training (CIIIT), two projects relating to handlooms and handicrafts sector and a government residential complex.”

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According to the PMO, the two projects associated with the handlooms worth Rs 36 crore are ‘Mega Handloom Cluster’ in Imphal east district and ‘Craft and Handloom village’ in Moirang.

Foundation stone will be laid for the construction of Manipur Institute of Performing Arts in Gurugram, Haryana as well. Built at a cost of over Rs 240 crore, the institute will promote the rich art and culture of the northeastern state.

Manipur is all set to go into polls this year, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) aiming to make a comeback in the state.