New Delhi, Sep 21 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday laid the foundation stone, through video-conferencing, for nine National Highway Projects in Bihar worth Rs 1400 crore and launched the project to provide internet services through Optical Fibre in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said these highway projects would improve the connectivity in Bihar.
The highway projects include the construction of three large bridges and upgrading of highways into four lanes and six lanes.
He said all rivers in Bihar will have bridges, confirming to 21st century specifications, while all major NHs will stand widened and strengthened.
The Prime Minister termed the day as not only historic for Bihar, but for the entire country, as the Government is taking major steps to make its villages the mainstay of AtmaNirbhar Bharat and that, this is the starting from Bihar today.
He said under this project, six lakh villages would be provided internet services through Optical Fibre cable in 1000 days, including 45,945 villages in Bihar.
It was inconceivable a few years ago that the number of Internet users in rural areas would be more than those in urban areas, added Mr Modi.
He said India is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of digital transactions.
'In August 2020 alone, about Rs three lakh crore worth transactions were made through UPI. With the increase in internet usage, now it is also necessary that the villages of the country have good quality, high speed internet,' added the Prime Minister.
He said because of the efforts of the government, optical fiber has already reached about 1.5 lakh Village Panchayats and more than three lakh Common Service Centers.
Explaining the benefits that accrue through the speedier connectivity, Mr Modi said this would provide the students, the access to the best study material, while providing the people of the country, access to tele-medicine and information on seeds, about new techniques on nationwide markets to the farmers, apart from real-time data on weather conditions.
Farmers can also easily transport their produce all over the country and world, he added.
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