The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed the National Panchayati Raj Day in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh today. He also laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation, projects worth around Rs. 17,000 crores.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister started his speech by bowing to Maa Vidhyawasini and to the land of bravery. He recalled his visits earlier and the affection of the people here. The Prime Minister noted the virtual presence of more than 30 lakh Panchayat representatives from all over the country and said that it presents a bold picture of Indian democracy. He pointed out that the scope of work for each one present here might be different but everyone works for the common goal of serving the citizens through serving the country. The Prime Minister expressed happiness that the Panchayats are implementing the government’s schemes for Gaaon aur Gareeb – villages and the poor, with full dedication.
Referring to eGramSwaraj and GeM portal for public procurement at the Panchayat level, the Prime Minister said that it will ease the working of the Panchayats. He also mentioned the distribution of 35 lakh SVAMITVA Property Cards and projects worth 17000 crores regarding railways, housing, water and employment for the development of Madhya Pradesh.
In the Amrit Kaal of Independence, the Prime Minister said, every citizen is working towards fulfilling the dream of a developed India with utmost dedication. He highlighted the importance of developing the social system, economy and Panchayati Raj system in the villages of India in order to create a developed nation and pointed out that the present government is working tirelessly to create a robust system in place and expanding its scope, unlike the previous governments that discriminated with the Panchayats. Throwing light on the lack of efforts made by the previous governments before 2014, the Prime Minister informed that the finance commission granted less than 70,000 crores which was a paltry amount when one considers the scale of the country, but after 2014, this grant was increased to more than 2 lakh crores. He also mentioned that merely 6,000 Panchayat Bhawans were constructed a decade before 2014, whereas the present government constructed more than 30,000 Panchayat Bhawans in the last 8 years. He also informed that less than 70 Gram Panchayats were connected with optical fiber compared to more than 2 lakh Gram Panchayats that got optical fiber connectivity after the present government came to power. He also noted the lack of faith shown in the existing Panchayati Raj system by the previous governments after India’s independence. Recalling the words of Mahatma Gandhi that ‘India lives in its villages’, the Prime Minister pointed out that the previous regime barely paid any heed to his ideology which resulted in the Panchayati Raj remaining neglected for decades. The Prime Minister said that today, Panchayats are coming up as the life force of India’s development. “Gram Panchayat Vikas Yojana is helping Panchayats to work effectively”, Shri Modi added.
The Prime Minister said that the government is working ceaselessly to bridge the gap between villages and cities. Panchayats are being made smart in this age of the digital revolution. Technology is being harnessed in the projects being undertaken by the Panchayats. The Prime Minister gave the example of Amrit Sarovar where issues like the selection of sites and completion of the project are being done with the help of technology. He said the GeM portal for public procurement at the Panchayat level will make procurement by the Panchayats easy and transparent. Local cottage industry will find a strong avenue for their sales, the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister talked about the benefit of technology in the PM Svamitva scheme. He informed that the scheme is changing the scene of property rights in villages and reducing disputes and litigation. The use of drone technology is ensuring property documents for the people without any discrimination. He informed that work of Property Card is completed in 75 thousand villages of the country. He praised the Madhya Pradesh Government for good work in this direction.
Referring to the indifference to the development of Chhindwara, the Prime Minister blamed the thinking of certain political parties. He said that the ruling parties broke the trust of the rural poor by ignoring the basic needs of the rural areas after Independence.
The Prime Minister emphasized that by discriminating against villages where half of the population of the country resides, the country can not progress. He said after 2014, the rural economy, facilities in villages and the interest of the villages were given the highest priority. He said schemes like Ujjwala, and PM Awas have left a deep impact in villages. He said out of 4.5 crore houses, 3 crore houses of PMAY are in rural areas and that too mostly, in the name of the women.
Highlighting that the cost of every house constructed under PM Awas Yojna is more than 1 lakh, the Prime Minister said that the government has transformed the lives of crores of women from the country by making them ‘Lakhpati Didi’ (millionaires). He informed that more than 4 lakh families have performed Grih Pravesh in pucca houses today and congratulated the sisters who have now become homeowners.
The Prime Minister also touched upon the PM Saubhagya Yojna and informed that out of the 2.5 crore houses that received electricity, most of the houses belonged to the rural areas and the Har Ghar Jal Yojna that resulted in tapped water connections to more than 9 crore rural households. He pointed out that approximately 60 lakh houses in Madhya Pradesh now have tapped water connections compared to 13 lakhs previously.
Stressing the need for access to banks and bank accounts, the Prime Minister pointed out that most of the rural population neither had bank accounts nor availed of any services from banks. As a result, the Prime Minister continued, the monetary aid that was sent out to the beneficiaries got looted before it reached them. Throwing light on the Jan Dhan Yojna, the Prime Minister informed that bank accounts were opened for more than 40 crore residents from villages, and the reach of banks was widened through India Post Payments Bank via India Post Office. He also gave the example of Bank Mitras and trained Bank Sakhis that are helping the people of the villages in everything, be it farming or business.
Shedding light on the great injustice caused to the villages of India by previous governments, the Prime Minister noted that money spending on villages was avoided as villages were not considered to be vote banks. The Prime Minister highlighted that the present government opened the doors of development of the villages by spending more than 3.5 lakh crores on Har Ghar Jal Yojana, lakhs of crores of rupees are spent on PM Awas Yojana, 1 lakh crore rupees is being spent to complete the irrigation projects lying incomplete for decades, and thousands of crores of rupees are being spent on PM Gramin Sadak Abhiyan. Even under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, the Prime Minister continued, the government has transferred about Rs 2.5 lakh crores directly to the bank accounts of the farmers where about 90 lakh farmers of Madhya Pradesh have received 18,500 crore rupees as part of this scheme. “The farmers of Rewa have also received about Rs 500 crore from this fund”, he added. The Prime Minister noted that thousands of crores of rupees have reached the villages in addition to the increase in MSP, while in the Corona period, the government has been giving free rations to the poor for the last three years at a cost of more than Rs 3 lakh crores.
Referring to the Mudra Yojna, the Prime Minister informed that the central government is creating employment and self-employment opportunities in the villages by providing assistance of Rs 24 lakh crore in the past years alone. Due to this, the Prime Minister said, crores of people have started their employment in the villages where women make for a huge number of beneficiaries. Shri Modi informed that in the last 9 years, 9 crore women have joined self-help groups including more than 50 lakh women from Madhya Pradesh, and the government is offering a loan of up to Rs 20 lakh without bank guarantee to every self-help group. “Women are now handling the command of many small-scale industries”, the Prime Minister remarked, referring to the ‘Didi Cafe’ set up by the state government in every district. Shri Modi congratulated the women power of Madhya Pradesh and informed that about 17,000 women associated with self-help groups have been elected as panchayat representatives in the last panchayat elections.
Referring to the ‘Samaveshi Abhiyan launched today, the Prime Minister said that this will be a strong initiative for achieving Viksit Bharat through Sabka Vikas. “Every panchayat, every institution, every representative, every citizen of the country will have to unite for a developed India. This is possible only when every basic facility reaches 100% beneficiaries quickly and without any discrimination”, he said.
The Prime Minister emphasized that Panchayats will have to spread awareness about new systems of agriculture. He especially stressed the need to propagate natural farming. He said Panchayats have a big role to play in the initiative for small farmers, fishermen, and animal husbandry. “When you get involved in every development-related activity, the collective efforts of the nation will get strengthened. This will become the energy for building a developed India in Amrit Kaal.”
Highlighting the projects of today, the Prime Minister mentioned the electrification of the Chhindwara-Nainpur-Mandla Fort rail line which will further ease the connectivity of the people of this region to Delhi-Chennai and Howrah-Mumbai while also benefiting the tribal population. He also mentioned the new trains that have also been flagged off today for Chhindwara-Nainpur and said that many towns and villages will be directly connected to their district headquarters in Chhindwara, Seoni, and going to Nagpur and Jabalpur will also become much easier. The Prime Minister noted the rich wildlife in the region and said that increasing connectivity will also boost tourism and create new employment opportunities. “This is the power of the double-engine government”, the Prime Minister said.
Concluding the address, the Prime Minister thanked everyone for the love and support shown towards ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme which is completing 100 episodes this Sunday. The Prime Minister highlighted the mentioning of various achievements of the people of Madhya Pradesh in Mann Ki Baat and urged everyone to tune in for the 100th episode.
Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Shri Giriraj Singh, Union Ministers of State, Shri Faggan Kulaste, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil, Members of Parliament and Ministers from Government of Madhya Pradesh were present on the occasion among others.
Background
The Prime Minister participated in the celebration of National Panchayati Raj Day and addressed all the Gram Sabhas and Panchayati Raj Institutions across the country. During the event, the Prime Minister inaugurated an integrated eGramSwaraj and GeM portal for public procurement at Panchayat level. The objective of eGramSwaraj – Government eMarketplace integration is to enable the Panchayats to procure their goods and services through GeM, leveraging the eGramSwaraj platform.
With the aim of taking forward people’s participation towards ensuring saturation of schemes of the government, Prime Minister unveiled a campaign named “विकास की ओर साझे क़दम”. The theme of the campaign will be inclusive development, with a focus on reaching the last mile.
The -Prime Minister also handed over around 35 lakh SVAMITVA Property Cards to beneficiaries. Post this programme, around 1.25 crore property cards were distributed under SVAMITVA Scheme in the country, including those distributed here. Taking a step towards fulfilling the vision of achieving ‘Housing for All’, the Prime Minister participated in a programme marking the ‘Griha Pravesh’ of more than 4 lakh beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana–Gramin.
The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation various railway projects worth around Rs. 2,300 crores. The projects include 100 percent rail electrification in Madhya Pradesh, along with various doubling, gauge conversion and electrification projects. He also laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of Gwalior station.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of projects worth about Rs.7,000 crore under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
