Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday virtually inaugurated 21 development projects worth Rs 38.73 crore in Khowai district and laid the foundation stone for a multi-storey building with parking facilities at Subhash Park.
The projects were inaugurated at a programme held at the Book Fair Ground in Khowai. Saha said the state government was pursuing development initiatives in line with the goal of building a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
He said development projects worth Rs 1,500 crore had been inaugurated or had their foundation stones laid across various subdivisions of Tripura during the last financial year. So far in the current financial year, projects worth Rs 1,200 crore had been inaugurated or had their foundation stones laid, he added.
Referring to development in Khowai district, the chief minister said 71 projects, estimated to cost Rs 1,033.62 crore, had been inaugurated or had their foundation stones laid since December 6, 2022. Of these, 19 had been completed, while work on the remaining 52 was under way.
Saha said Rs 160.79 crore had been allocated for the road connecting Khowai and Teliamura and the stretch from Teliamura to Harina in Sabroom. Road improvement work worth Rs 115.81 crore had also been taken up on the Agartala-Kailashahar route via Khowai, while Rs 160.86 crore had been spent on improving rural road connectivity.
Work to install concrete cement blocks along the Khowai riverbank to prevent erosion, conserve water and protect agricultural land was under way at a cost of Rs 91.59 crore, he said.
An Eklavya Model Residential School has been built at Padmabil at a cost of Rs 50.86 crore. Of the 21 Eklavya Model Schools approved across the state, 11 had been completed, the chief minister said.
Construction of the 100-bed Khowai District Hospital was also under way at a cost of Rs 45.46 crore. The government had allocated Rs 11.95 crore for Bachaibari Higher Secondary School and Rs 19.85 crore for improving the roads connecting Champahawar with Takchhaia and Tulashikhar with West Rajnagar, he said.
Highlighting investment prospects, Saha said delegates from India and abroad had expressed interest in setting up industries in Tripura at a recent business conclave in Agartala. Memoranda of understanding worth Rs 1.32 lakh crore had been signed, he added.
The chief minister attributed investor interest to the maintenance of peace and order and a favourable environment for industrial development in the state.
On education, he said Tripura's literacy rate stood at 95.6 per cent, the third highest in the country. More than Rs 1,178 crore had been spent on school infrastructure, with facilities upgraded in 213 schools, he said.
Under the VB-G RAM G scheme, 83.48 lakh person-days of employment had been generated since July 1, according to Saha. Piped drinking water connections had been provided to 86.6 per cent of households in the state.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, pucca houses had been constructed for 3.76 lakh families, while 76,771 houses had been completed in urban areas, he said.
Saha also said more than one lakh women in Tripura had become Lakhpati Didis through initiatives aimed at strengthening self-help groups and promoting financial independence.
Referring to healthcare, he said the number of patients travelling outside the state for treatment had declined by nearly 80 per cent, citing improvements in medical facilities within Tripura. Hospital infrastructure was being upgraded, and district and sub-divisional hospitals had also seen improvements in services, he added.
The state currently has 550 MBBS seats across its medical colleges, along with 63 BDS seats and 50 BSc Nursing seats. The government was also planning to establish homoeopathic and Ayurvedic medical colleges, he said.
Among those present at the programme were MLA Kalyani Saha Roy, MLA Pinaki Das Choudhury, Khowai Zilla Parishad Sabhadhipati Aparna Singha Roy Dutta and Khowai Municipal Council chairperson Debashis Nath Sharma. Khowai District Magistrate Rajat Pant delivered the welcome address.
After the programme, the chief minister inaugurated an electric crematorium at Lalchhara Mahashmashan and planted a sapling. He also unveiled a portrait of Moti Hathi, the district's Swachhata mascot, at the District Magistrate's office complex.
Meanwhile, Forest Minister Animesh Debbarma attended a parallel public outreach programme at Asharambari Higher Secondary School in connection with the inauguration of the development projects.
Among the facilities virtually inaugurated by the chief minister were three classrooms and three laboratories at Asharambari Higher Secondary School, a 50-seat girls' hostel adjoining Behalabari Class XII School in Tulashikhar block, and a new building for PM SHRI Bharat Sardar Higher Secondary School. The facilities were constructed at a combined cost of around Rs 10.86 crore.
Addressing the gathering, Debbarma described the occasion as a proud moment for the Asharambari Assembly constituency and expressed hope that students would use the educational facilities to build their careers and bring recognition to their locality and the state.