Modi claims conspiracy to defame Indian tea, pitches for tech institutions teaching in mother tongue

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday claimed an international conspiracy has been hatched to ''defame'' Indian tea, on a visit to Assam, amajor producer of the brew.

On a second visit to the election-bound state in afortnight, he also pitched for setting up at least onemedical college and a technical institution in each state thatwill impart education in the native language.

He was addressing a gathering after launching 'AssamMala' scheme to upgrade state highways and laying thefoundation for two medical colleges.

Modi said he always linked the progress of tea gardenworkers to the development of Assam.

''But documents have emerged to show that a conspiracyhas been hatched outside the country to defame Indian tea. Iam sure the tea workers from Assam will give a befittingreply.

''No tea garden worker in Assam can tolerate thisattack and I am sure they will win this fight against theseconspirators as they are stronger than these forces withvested interest,'' he said.

The prime minister was apparently referring to Swedishenvironmentalist Greta Thunberg's controversial 'toolkit',which she tweeted and then deleted, outlining ways in whichpeople can participate in the farmers protest.

One of the points reportedly mentioned there was to''disrupt yoga and chai image of India in general''.

NGO Greenpeace's had also claimed in a report a fewyears ago about alleged overuse of pesticides in Indian teaindustry.

He said the Centre had earmarked Rs 1,000 crore forthe tea sector in the budget and an assistance of Rs 3,000 wasextended to each tea garden worker of Assam on Saturday.

Mobile medical units were also functioning in tea gardens, hesaid.

Modi also spoke about his dream of imparting medicaland technical education in mother tonue.

''I have a daring dream of each state having atleast one medical college and a technical institutionimparting education in the local language,'' he said, promisingsetting up such institutions in Assam after the assemblyelections.

He said this will improve medical services in remoteareas as more and more doctors will be able to reach out topeople in their mother tongue and understand their problems.

The two medical college and hospitals will come up inBiswanath and Charaideo districts.

In India, teaching and learning have largely been in aforeign language but that could change with the advent of theNational Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

''Taking inspiration from the National EducationPolicy, it will now be tried to teach all technical coursesincluding medical, engineering in mother tongue,'' Modi hadtweeted after the unveiling of the NEP.

He claimed Assam has witnessed unprecedenteddevelopment in the last five years with increased health andinfrastructure development.

Until 2016 there were only six medical colleges in thestate but six more were added in just five years. The numberof seats in medical colleges have gone up from 725 to 1,600now, he said.

The prime minister said the 'Asom Mala' scheme willlead to creation of new oppurtunities. Under the scheme thePublic Works Department (PWD) will upgrade the statehighways.

''Five years ago, having good hospitals in the statewas a dream and people hoped that there would be no medicalemergency in the family as it meant long hours of travel,waiting and countless difficulties along the way. But now youcan see and feel the difference,'' he said.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences being setup in Guwahati will emerge as a hub for modern medicalfacilities not only for Assam but the entire North East afterits completion in two years, he said.

''Why was an AIIMS not set up in the region earlier? Theearlier government was far too distant and didn't realise itwas needed here,'' he said.

Taking a lesson from the impact of COVID-19 on healthinfrastructure, budgetary allocation for the health sector hasbeen significantly increased and the government is planning toset up integrated medical laboratories in 600 small towns andvillages, he said.

The prime minister said the 'Asom Mala' scheme willchange the infrastructure scenario during the next 15 years,heralding an era of efficient transportation of people andgoods across the state and fuelling economic growth.

The Asom Mala scheme, with an outlay of Rs 8,210crore, will provide inter-linkage between highways and ruralroads and high speed corridors.

''The day begins early in the northeast but the dawn ofdevelopment arrived in the region after a long wait marked byviolence, deprivation, tension, discrimination and struggle,''he said.