PM Modi to Release Rs 20,000 Cr to Farmers, Inaugurate Nalanda University Campus

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit his constituency Varanasi on Tuesday to attend the PM Kisan Samman Sammelan and release Rs 20,000 crores as part of the income support scheme for over 9.26 crore farmers. On Wednesday, the PM will inaugurate the campus of Nalanda University in Bihar’s Rajgir district.

In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office said that on June 18, the Prime Minister will participate in the PM Kisan Samman Sammelan in Varanasi. The Prime Minister will witness the Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat and will perform puja and darshan at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

The PMO said that after being sworn in as Prime Minister for the third time, Mr Modi signed his first file authorising the release of the 17th instalment of the PM Kisan Nidhi, which showed the government’s commitment to farmers’ welfare.

”In continuation of this commitment, the Prime Minister will release the 17th instalment amounting to more than Rs 20,000 crores to around 9.26 crore beneficiary farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) through Direct Benefit Transfer. So far, more than 11 crore eligible farmer families have received benefits of more than Rs. 3.04 lakh crores under PM-Kisan,” the PMO said.

The Prime Minister will also grant certificates to more than 30,000 women from Self Help Groups (SHGs) as Krishi Sakhis. “The Krishi Sakhi Convergence Programme (KSCP) aims to transform rural India through the empowerment of rural women as Krishi Sakhi, by imparting training and certification of Krishi Sakhis as para-extension workers. This certification course also aligns with the objectives of the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ Programme,” it said.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister will visit the ruins of Nalanda and inaugurate the new campus of Nalanda University. The university is conceived as a joint collaboration between India and the East Asia Summit (EAS) countries. The inauguration ceremony will be attended by several eminent people, including the heads of mission of 17 countries.

The campus has two academic blocks with 40 classrooms, having a total seating capacity of around 1,900. It has two auditoriums having a capacity of 300 seats each. It has a student hostel with a capacity of around 550 students. It also has various other facilities, including an international centre, amphitheatre that can accommodate up to 2,000 persons, a faculty club and a sports complex, among others.

The campus is a “net zero” green campus. It is self-sustainable with a solar plant, domestic and drinking water treatment plant, water recycling plant for reusing wastewater, 100 acres of water bodies, and many other environment friendly facilities.

The university has a deep connection with history. The original Nalanda University, established around 1,600 years ago, is considered to be among the first residential universities of the world. In 2016, the ruins of Nalanda was declared as a UN heritage site.