Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, released the 20th installment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, disbursing ₹20,500 crore directly into the bank accounts of over 9.7 crore farmers across the country. With this installment, the total disbursement under the scheme has now surpassed ₹3.90 lakh crore since its inception.
Alongside this major announcement, PM Modi also inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for multiple infrastructure and development projects worth around ₹2,200 crore. These projects span across critical sectors like road infrastructure, healthcare, cultural preservation, tourism, electricity, and environmental sustainability.
To ease congestion and improve connectivity, the Prime Minister inaugurated the widening and strengthening of the Varanasi–Bhadohi road, Chhitauni–Shool Tankeshwar road, and the Hardattpur Railway Overbridge. He also laid the foundation for the development of roads in areas such as Dalmandi, Lahartara-Kotwa, Gangapur, Babatpur, and additional railway overbridges.
In a significant step to improve the region’s power infrastructure, projects worth over ₹880 crore under the Smart Distribution Project and underground cabling were also launched.
Tourism and cultural heritage saw a major boost with redevelopment works launched at eight riverfront kuccha ghats, Kalika Dham, Durgakund, and the restoration of Rangildas Kutiya pond and ghat. The PM also initiated the development of the historic Kardameshwar Mahadev Temple, Munshi Premchand’s ancestral home in Lamahi, and heritage zones in Sarnath, Rishi Mandvi, and Ramnagar.
Environmental efforts included the foundation laying of an urban Miyawaki forest in Kanchanpur and the beautification of Shaheed Udyan and 21 other public parks.