Madhya Pradesh will have better national highway network than U.S. in two years, says Gadkari-OxBig News Network

Madhya Pradesh’s national highway network will be better than that of the United States within two years, Nitin Gadkari promised the State’s public. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Madhya Pradesh’s national highway network will be better than that of the United States within two years, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari promised the State’s public on Thursday from Dhar as he inaugurated and laid foundation to 10 NH projects worth ₹5,800 crore. 

Mr. Gadkari made the claims in Badnawar area of Dhar district at an event to inaugurate five projects worth ₹3,502 crore, including the Badnawar-Ujjain four-lane highway built as part of the Bharatmala Project, and to lay foundation to another five projects worth ₹2,462 crore across the State. The 10 projects will add 328 kilometres to the State’s NH network.

“I want to assure the people of Madhya Pradesh, the Chief Minister, the Minister and the MPs that within the next two years, Madhya Pradesh’s national highway road network will become even better than that of America” Mr. Gadkari said at the event. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and his Cabinet Colleagues like Kailash Vijayavargiya and Rakesh Singh also attended the event. 

“You won’t have any complaints. And the announcements I make don’t go in vain. I will deliver what I say at any cost,” he said. 

The Union Minister also said that infrastructure works worth ₹3 lakh crore will be completed in Madhya Pradesh in the coming one year. “Madhya Pradesh is developing rapidly,” he said. 

“We will complete infrastructure work worth ₹3 lakh crore in a year which will lead to the formation of industrial clusters and generate employment due to connectivity with Delhi-Mumbai. This will rid [you] of poverty and hunger,” he said. 

Advocates for smart villages

Mr. Gadkari also advocated for smart villages over smart cities. 

“We have to make smart villages and not smart cities, [where] the farmer becomes wealthy, each village has good roads, good schools, and the people of villages get clean drinking water, industry and employment, and health facilities. The farmers should get the right price for their crops. This is what the world is talking about,” he said. 

Saying that infrastructural development plays a crucial role in a country’s growth, Mr. Gadkari recalled a quote by formed U.S. president John F. Kennedy: “American roads are not good because America is rich; America is rich because American roads are good.”

“Wherever there is water, power, transport and communication, industries and businesses grow. And where industries and businesses grow, employment is created. Where there is employment, poverty, hunger, and unemployment cannot survive,” he added. 

Later in the evening, Mr. Gadkari also visited the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain with Mr. Singh and Mr. Vijayvargiya.  

Earlier in 2018, then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, now a Union Minister, had made repeated claims that the State had better roads than the U.S.. The claims had triggered a war of words between the BJP and the Congress in the run up to the State Assembly elections held that year.