Ease of living is my government’s commitment: Modi

Kollam (Kerala), Jan 15 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday declared that the priority of his government was to provide ease of living to citizens.

After lighting a lamp to inaugurate a 13-km Kollam by-pass, along with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Modi said he had always given high priority for developing infrastructure in Kerala.

"Ease of living is the commitment of my government and it was with this commitment that we gave the final sanction for this by-pass in January 2015. Now this has been completed. Several projects are in various stages of progress in Kerala," he said.

Modi arrived here on Tuesday evening and took a helicopter along with Vijayan and others to reach Kollam, located about 70 km from the state capital.

Modi pointed out that he every month meets all the Secretaries and Chief Secretaries of states to review projects that are delayed.

"I was surprised to see that there are projects that have been delayed for over 20 to 30 years. When we assumed office, only 56 per cent of rural habitation was connected to roads and today 90 per cent have connectivity. Very soon it will be 100 per cent.

"The last man in the queue is my priority... We have set aside Rs 7,500 for the fisheries sector besides launching a cashless insurance scheme for the poor," added Modi.

"We have launched two special projects to evelop tourism in heritage and religious places in Kerala and sanctioned Rs 550 crore for it."

Vijayan was upset when a section of the audience chanted Lord Ayyappa hymns when he was speaking.

"There are certain niceties to be observed in conduct during public meetings and all have to follow it," said an angry Vijayan and then continued with his speech.