Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday stated that the BJP-led government at the Centre was giving equal emphasis on social and cultural connectivity in the country like the way it was working to improve physical and digital connectivity.
"In the past nine years, we have changed our attitude towards connectivity. Apart from physical and digital connectivity, we are working equally to improve social and cultural connectivity among people and their cultures. In the Northeast too, we are trying to push the culture of various communities so that we can improve cultural connectivity. Be it celebrations of the 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Borohukan, GI tag for Muga silk, Tezpur litchi, Assamese gamosa or the kaji lemon, we are trying for protection and promotion of the local products and identifies at the national and global level," Modi said after witnessing a Bihu performance by over 10,000 dancers and drummers at the Sarusajai Sports complex here on Friday evening.
Assam's Bihu on Thursday made it to the Guinness Book of World Records when over 11,304 Bihu dancers and drummers performed together in the same ground. The state also achieved another Guinness record when 3,000 drummers similarly performed together.
"Today, dosa or the Assamese doi sira, all cultures are getting connected. Today the connectivity is getting intense between every thought and culture."
On Saturday, the first day of Rongali Bihu, Assam's most important cultural festival, Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of projects worth over Rs. 14,300 crores in Assam.
Earlier in the day, Modi inaugurated Assam's first All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Changsari, about 30km from Guwahati and virtually opened three new medical colleges at Nalbari, Nagaon and Kokrajhar. Modi also laid the foundation stone of Assam Advanced Healthcare Innovation Institute (AAHII) at the IIT Guwahati.
In the afternoon, Modi attended a function at Sankardev Kalakshetra for celebration of the platinum jubilee of Gauhati High Court. Addressing the function, Modi said, "Be it the government or the judiciary, the role of every institution and its constitutional obligation is connected to the Ease of Living of the common citizens."
At the function at Sarusajai Sports complex in the evening, Modi virtually inaugurated a Methanol plant at Namrup, a project for beautification of Rang Ghar, an archaeological site in Sivasagar in Eastern Assam and four new railway projects executed by the Northeast Frontier Railways. Modi also laid the foundation of a new bridge over the Brahmaputra to connect Sualkuchi and Palasbari near Guwahati.