Budget 2024: Purvodaya Plan to Boost Eastern India’s Growth
The Indian government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has come up with a new plan called ‘Purvodaya.’ The plan aims to ensure the growth of eastern India in several ways. Purvodaya means “the rise of the East” in Hindi.
The Purvodaya plan will focus on five states in eastern India:
1. Bihar
2. Jharkhand
3. West Bengal
4. Odisha
5. Andhra Pradesh
What Will the Plan Do?
She said that Purvodaya would now work on three major fronts: human resource development to help people acquire new skills, infrastructure in the form of better roads, railways, and other facilities, and economic growth with more jobs and business opportunities. Another objective is to strengthen these eastern states so that they can contribute more towards the development of India.
Why Is This Plan Important?
Experts say that the eastern states of India have grown slower than the rest of India. They need some more help to catch up. The government wants these states to become “powerful drivers” of India’s growth when India celebrates 100 years of independence in the year 2047.
New Projects in the East
The government, as part of this plan, announced some new projects:
1. Gaya in Bihar will get an “industrial node” (a spot for factories and businesses). This forms a part of a much larger Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor project.
2. More than 100 new branches of India Post Payment Bank will be opened in the Northeast. People’s access to banking will be increased.
Describing the Gaya project to be a good example of how ancient cultural centres can be turned into modern economic hubs, she said, “Vikas bhi Virasat bhi.” That is Development as well as Heritage in Hindi.
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What Do Business Leaders Think?
S K Behera, a business leader in the eastern region, welcomed the plan of the government. “It’s good that the government is focusing on overall development and promoting tourism at heritage sites in the east,” he said.
The Purvodaya plan is a big initiative to accelerate further growth in eastern India and add to India’s progress. Its main objectives include skills, better infrastructural setup, more jobs, and striking a balance between development with cultural preservation.
