BIJAPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday presented a pair of slippers to a tribal woman in Bijapur in Chhattisgarh under the Charan-Paduka (footwear) scheme. The scheme aims to provide footwear to Tendu leaves (tendupatta) collectors to facilitate their smooth movement in the forest area.


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PM Modi is the first Prime Minister who has visited the tribal district of Bijapur. Addressing the tribals, Modi said: "I have come to Bijapur with Taking inspiration from Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, I have come to Bijapur to give the people and the administration here the confidence that the government at the Centre is yours, it supports your wishes and aspirations."



This is also the Prime Minister's fourth visit to Chhattisgarh, where assembly elections are due later in the year. 


During his trip to Chhattisgarh, the PM inaugurated the first health centre under Ayushman Bharat Scheme in Bijapur on Saturday. He also inaugurated the first phase of the Bastar Internet scheme under which a 40,000-km-long network of fibre optics cable would be spread across the seven districts of the tribal region namely - Bijapur, Narayanpur, Bastar, Kanker, Kondagaon, Sukma and Dantewada.


He also inaugurated a new rail line and a passenger train between Gudum and Bhanupratapur, bringing north Bastar region on railways' map.


He inaugurated bank branches in seven villages and visited rural BPO centre developed under the India BPO promotion scheme. The BPO centre is provided Internet by the Bastar internet scheme. He also laid foundation stones for road and bridge projects worth over Rs 1,700 crore.


The PM's visit to the state coincides with the birth anniversary of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar.
Modi had earlier visited Dantewada in Chhattisgarh in May 2015, Naya Raipur and Rajnandgaon in February 2016 and Naya Raipur in November 2016.