Lagatar24 Desk
Pune, August 1: As part of his daylong visit to Pune, Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off metro trains on Tuesday to officially launch service on two completed corridors of Pune Metro Phase-I.
These sections run from Phugewadi station to the Civil Court station and from Garware College station to the Ruby Hall Clinic station. The Prime Minister also lay the project’s foundation stone in 2016. Important locations in Pune city, including Shivaji Nagar, the Civil Court, the office of the Pune Municipal Corporation, Pune RTO, and Pune Railway Station, will be connected by the new sections.
At the Shivaji Nagar Police headquarters in Pune, PM Modi also dedicated and laid foundation stone for a number of development projects.
After receiving the Lokmanya Tilak National Award at a ceremony in Pune, Maharashtra, he laid foundation stones for several development projects totalling Rs 15,000 crore.
After the inauguration ceremony, PM Modi addressed the crowd at the Shivaji Nagar Police headquarters in Pune and stated that his government is trying to raise the quality of life of the citizens.
“Foundation stone has been laid for around Rs 15000 crore projects here, thousands of families received proper house…Our govt is very serious about the quality of life of the middle class and professionals in the city…when the quality of life of the people improves, the development of the city also happens fast…” he said.
“Our government is working towards improving the quality of life of the people,” Modi added.
PM Modi stated on Tuesday that receiving the Lokmanya Tilak National Award was a memorable occasion for him.
He was speaking at a gathering in Pune alongside Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
“This is a memorable moment for me,” he said, adding, “While I am very happy to be here, I am also feeling emotional. Lokmanya Tilak is the tilak of our freedom struggle.”
“The role of Lokmanya Tilak in India’s independence, his contribution cannot be summed up in a few words or by illustrating a few incidents,” PM Modi said, invoking the freedom fighter, adding, “I pay homage to him and all our freedom fighters. I am honoured to be on Maharashtra soil. This is the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Jyotirba Phule.”
The prize money from the award would be dedicated to the Namami Gange project, the Prime Minister continued.
“I have decided to donate the prize money to the Namami Gange project. I want to dedicate this award to 140 crore people of the country,” he said.
To honour Lokmanya Tilak’s legacy, the Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust established the Award in 1983.
Legendary figures like Shankar Dayal Sharma, Pranab Mukherjee, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, NR Narayana Murthy and E Sreedharan are among the previous honourees of the award.
PM Modi began his daylong tour earlier on Tuesday by traveling to Pune.
Eknath Shinde, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar welcomed PM Modi.
PM Modi also prayed at Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Mandir.
