Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that in the past ten years, the government has made several efforts to strengthen infrastructure to connect all the four corners of the country. The Prime Minister today inaugurated the Pamban vertical lift sea bridge in Rameshwaram and laid the foundation for 8300 crore rupees worth of rail and road projects in Tamil Nadu. Addressing a public meeting in Rameshwaram, he said that the development of Tamil Nadu contributes to the development of the nation.

Calling the vertical lift sea bridge a 20th-century wonder, he congratulated and thanked the engineers who worked on the first vertical lift sea bridge where ships and trains will make the best use of it. He said that this will boost the ease of doing business, trade, and tourism and provide jobs for the people. The Prime Minister said that it was a precious moment to offer prayers at the ancient Rameswaram Temple and hand over the project on this day. Calling the projects a gift on Ram Navami, he recalled the mention of Lord Ram in Sangam literature.

Underlining that infrastructure development in Tamil Nadu is a priority for his government, Mr Modi highlighted that over the past decade, Tamil Nadu’s railway budget has increased more than sevenfold. He added that before 2014, rail projects in Tamil Nadu received only 900 crore rupees annually, while this year, the railway budget for Tamil Nadu exceeds 6,000 crore rupees. He further highlighted that the Government of India is modernising 77 railway stations in the state, including the Rameswaram station.

Mr Modi described the importance of the ancient Tamil culture and language. Mr Modi appealed to the state government to allow medical students to study in their mother tongue. He also criticised the politicians who didn’t even put their signatures in Tamil when writing letters to him.

Mr Modi, mentioning various achievements in the past ten years, said that the country had seen a sixfold increase in allocation for the road, airport, port, energy and infrastructure. He added that the Eastern and Western freight corridors and the Vande Bharat, Amrit Bharat and Namo Bharat rail services provide sound freight logistics and infrastructure.

Mr Modi said that due to the efforts of the Centre in the past ten years, 3700 fishermen were freed from Sri Lankan prisons, and more than 600 fishermen were freed from Sri Lankan prisons this year alone.