Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated and reviewed various developmental projects completed under the MPLAD Scheme during her two-day visit to Karnataka from May 14-15, 2022.

During the course of her visit, Smt. Sitharaman also attended the convocation ceremonies of T.A. Pai Management Institute and Vedanada Gurukula.

On the first day of her visit, the Union Finance Minister inaugurated Sri Vishwesha Theertha Sevadhama and the extension block of Sri Krishna Balanikethana in Kukkikatte, Udupi, to which She had contributed Rs 25 lakh from her MPLADS fund. Smt. Shobha Karandlaje, union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, was also present on the occasion.

 

 

Later in the day, Smt. Sitharaman attended the 36^th Annual Convocation Ceremony of T.A. Pai Management Institute in Udupi.

 “The Government is aiming to achieve very many futuristic things during the Amrit Kaal, between 75th and 100th year of India’s independence. The future generations will be proud of the Government of mastering digital banking and payments, digital technology, digital learning and teaching, besides digitising our records,” the Union Finance Minister said while delivering the convocation address to the graduating students.

The Union Finance Minister hailed the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, for introducing drone technology to map the contours of the land and to make sure digital preservation of the records for posterity; recognising the poorest farmers and their rights, providing security and ownership of land in a transparent way, as also inclusion in the financial network.

The Union Finance Minister said the Government continues to provide free food grains to 80 crore people till September 2022, besides ensuring that money lands in the hands of people with a press of button into their accounts without pilferage by using Aadhar identification as a base.

The Union Finance Minister said, “Digitisation is providing benefits the common man and is no more the privilege of moneyed class.

Smt. Sitharaman told the graduating students that their learning has direct relevance to the quality of contribution to the Amrit Kaal by striving to transform India into a world leader.

“We don't want to lose the opportunity of being leaders in digital currency because we understand the potential of distributed ledger technology, that should be available & that should be leveraged for India’s development,” Smt. Sitharaman added while talking about the digital currency announcement made in Union Budget 2022-23. 

The Union Finance Minister visited the Kalena Agrahara Lake in Bengaluru, today, as part of her 2^nd day of visit. In 2017, Smt. Sitharaman had allocated Rs 75 lakh from her MPLADS fund for the restoration work of the lake.

The funds were utilised for the removal of sludge from the lake bed to enhance the impounding capacity, strengthening of main bund including revetment and turfing, and formation of ring bund using available desilted earth including revetment and turfing. The lake has underdone a major transformation since 2017 and is now a popular visiting site for local community.

During the visit to the lake, Smt. Sitharaman interacted with the residents, officials of the state government and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Later, the Union Finance Minister attended the Vedic Convocation Ceremony of Vedanada Gurukula in the state capital.

During the visit, Smt. Sitharaman was also informed that the neonatal and pediatric ICU ward in Government General Hospital in Jayanagar, Bangaluru, for which she had allocated a sum of Rs 1 crore from her MPLADS funds, is now ready for patients. The project involved setting up a 20-bed pediatric ICU, upgrading the physical infrastructure, adding medical oxygen facilities, and upgrading the electrical infrastructure in the hospital.

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