Sonia Gandhi lays foundation stone for Rs 2398 cr drinking water project at Nagaur (Rajasthan)

Congress President and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone for a Rs 2,938-crore drinking water supply project at Jayal in Nagaur district of Rajasthan on Thursday. This drinking water project would benefit more than 23 lakh people from nine towns and about 900 villages of Nagaur district. The project, being supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will be completed in four years.

Praising the Ashok Gehlot Government in the state Sonia Gandhi said “In the journey of development, the Congress-led Rajasthan Government has achieved another mile stone by launching this project”.

Referring to the acute water shortage in the state, the Congress President said “I am aware that scarcity of water affects my sisters more than anyone else and they are forced to travel miles to fetch water.  They spend half of their life time doing this. I also know that there was a time when people were reluctant to marry from those regions in this state where there is scarcity of drinking water. But today, the situation has changed positively and there will be more improvements in the future”.

Sonia Gandhilisted out various development initiatives of the Congress led UPA Government at the Centre. Pointing out some of the land mark bills pending, the UPA Chairperson said, “We (UPA) want that no one sleeps hungry. For that we wanted to bring Food Security bill. To make sure that the people and poor farmers get adequate price for their lands, we are now ready with the Land Acquisition Bill”.

Striking a chord with the people Sonia Gandhi said while concluding her speech, “I am confident that that day is not very far when the entire state of Rajasthan will be completely free from the menace of water scarcity”. She also urged the state government to ensure the timely completion of the proposed project.

In the last August, Sonia Gandhi had inaugurated another drinking water project in Barmer district.

Sonia Gandhi in Rajasthan launches power projects in Suratgarh

Congress President and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone of two units of 660 MW each at the super thermal power plant at Suratgarh in Rajasthan.  While addressing the gathering Sonia Gandhi slammed the opposition for blocking the welfare measures by the Congress-led Government at the Centre and assured that Congress is determined to carry on with its pro-poor measures.

She also praised the Rajasthan Government in the state for its various development measures aimed at the benefiting the common man. “I am very happy for the fact that the Congress government in the state under the leadership of Sh. Ashok Gehlot has done remarkably well to improve the power situation in the state. As a result Rajasthan today produces more than 12000 MW electricity” she said.

The UPAChairperson also highlighted various development measures taken by the Congress-led central Government and also slammed the opposition for creating obstacles on Centre’s welfare schemes. “I want to warn you that, there are some political parties in our country, who indulge in activities which disturb the stability. Whenever there is a threat for stability that will affect development works negatively and will increase the hardship of the poor.  We must be careful that these parties could do anything to grab power and are not bothered about the difficulties of the people” said Sonia Gandhi.

“Rajasthan has always shown the entire country the way to live with pride and self respect. We must continue this tradition and must work together for further progress. We will surge ahead by continuing our sincere, committed and hard work and will together defeat the anti-development forces who try to create hurdles in the path of progress” said Sonia Gandhi concluding her address.

The seventh and eighth units of super critical thermal power station at Suratgarh will be ready by 2016-17. They have been built at a cost of Rs 7920 crore. The two units coming up at Suratgarh would generate 1320 MW.

Sonia Gandhi was accompanied by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Energy Minister Jitendra Singh. The Congress President is also scheduled to inaugurate a Rs 2,938-crore drinking water supply project at Jayal in Nagaur district.

Sonia Gandhi had inaugurated another drinking water project in Barmer district last August.