Modi’s Banaras remains in focus

Varanasi: It seems that ‘achhe din’ of Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister of Narendra Modi, is to begin soon, as the city is at the focal point of Union urban development ministry for its development. The officials of union urban development ministry visited the city twice in last two months.
A three-member team of officials of urban development ministry headed by secretary Shankar Aggarwal made a two-day visit to the city on Monday and Tuesday and held meeting with divisional commissioner R M Srivastava and other officials to discuss issues related to planned development.The team took stock of the present condition of the city and asked the officials to prepare projects for integrated development of the city. Several issues, including development of infrastructure, civic amenities, tourism and improvement in sanitation and cleanliness were discussed in the meeting. The commissioner said that the central team mainly focused the overall development of the city.
A central team had also visited in June to assess the situation for planned development. Frequent visits of central teams showed seriousness of the Central government towards the development of PM constituency. Besides, the city also got allocations in Union budget.
An institution like AIIMS in eastern UP, most probably in Varanasi, may come up. The union budget has allocated Rs 500 crores for four such institutions in different states including UP (eastern UP), Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Vidarbha in Maharashtra.
The union budget already made provision for development of Sarnath-Gaya-Varanasi Buddhist circuit with befitting amenities to attract tourists from all over the world. Varanasi is an important centre of culture and tourism, it may attract a significant portion of budgetary allocation of Rs 500 crores for creation of tourist circuits around specific themes. Besides, it can also claim a big share in the fund of Rs 100 crores allocated for National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD).
The city will be a major beneficiary of Rs 100 crore project of riverfront and ghat development along with other cities like Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi. Besides, it will also get its share in ‘Namami Gange’ project of the Modi government for integrated Ganga conservation mission for which a fund of Rs 2037 crores will be spent. Varanasi will also get a trade facilitation centre and a crafts museum to develop and promote handloom products of Varanasi. It will be set up at a cost of Rs 50 crores. Development of 100 smart cities as satellite towns of larger cities is also planned. Modi government also intends to support 500 habitations for urban renewal with provisions of safe drinking water and sewerage management, use of recycled water for growing organic fruits and vegetable, solid waste management and digital connectivity.