Bhagalpur, 24 February (HS): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, while addressing a public meeting at the airport ground in Bhagalpur on Monday, said, It is a matter of great happiness that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come to Bhagalpur among us today. I welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I also welcome the Governor of Bihar.

The Chief Minister said that it is a matter of great fortune that the amount of Kisan Samman Nidhi is being sent to farmers across the country. More than 76 thousand farmers of Bihar are included in it. This is an important scheme. Farmers are getting direct benefit from it. The Chief Minister said that we have emphasized on agriculture from the very beginning. Development programs have been started by building agricultural roads. Work is currently underway. Due to the efforts of the government in Bihar, the production of milk, eggs, meat and fish has increased. Earlier, fish used to come here from other states. Now Bihar has become self-sufficient in fish production.

The Chief Minister said,the country and Bihar are developing under the leadership of the Prime Minister. We are getting their support in Bihar's development as well. In the last budget, a large amount has been announced for roads, industry, health, tourism and flood control in the form of financial assistance. Now in this year's plan, Makhana Board in Bihar, financial assistance for Western Canal, state level edition, expansion of Patna ITI have been announced. That is why I heartily congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi for all this. The Center's support for Bihar's progress is commendable.

The Chief Minister said that we came to power on 24 November 2005. Since the time the government was formed, we have been engaged in the development of Bihar. Bihar is developing rapidly. What was the situation here when we came to power for the first time? No one used to go out after evening. The situation was very bad. People did not come out of the house even in the evening. There was so much dispute in the society. Hindus and Muslims used to fight. I saw the condition of education. There was no complete arrangement for treatment. There were very few roads and very little electricity. There was no electricity anywhere in the rural area. There was electricity for 8 hours in Patna. We worked. The love of brotherhood remains in the state.

The Chief Minister said , we had gone on Pragati Yatra in all the districts and have approved more than 400 schemes. The state government is working for the development of Bihar.

The Chief Minister told Prime Minister ,Along with the development of this area, we will do the development work of the entire state and the country. We will develop the entire country under his leadership.

The Chief Minister said that a large amount was announced in the budget for tourism and flood control. In this year's budget also, Makhana Board in Bihar, establishment of Green Field Airport, financial assistance for Western Kushinagar, establishment of 7 national level processing institutes and expansion of Patna ITI were announced.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar