The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacted and addressed the beneficiaries of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra (VBSY) via video conferencing today. This was the third such interaction during this Yatra. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister informed that in its one-month journey, VBSY has reached thousands of villages as well as 1500 cities which include smaller cities and towns.

Connecting with the journey of VBSY, the Prime Minister interacted with people from rural areas where he spoke about PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, natural farming, aspects of rural economy, and making India’s villages developed. Noting the involvement of a large number of people from urban areas in today's program, PM Modi said that today’s focus will be on urban development.

Thousands of Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra beneficiaries from across the country including Assam joined the event.

Smt Kalyani Rajbongshi, a beneficiary from Noonmati, Guwahati, shared her experience with the PM. She explained how government schemes like DAY-NULM, PMFME have transformed her life from a homemaker to a self-reliant woman. She informed that she availed the benefits from both the State and Central government and started her journey. She first started with a mushroom unit with a revolving fund of Rs. 10,000, after which she opened a food processing unit. After this, she founded an Area Level Federation with 200 women. Talking more about her journey she said how she motivated other women in her locality to join SHGs and to get bank loans under various government schemes.

Smt Rajbongshi also informed the PM that she has received the prestigious Assam State civilian award ‘Assam Gaurav Award' for educating the  vendors to take the benefit from PM SVANidhi scheme.

When PM Shri Modi asked her experience about the VBSY IEC Van, she replied that the people of her area enthusiastically welcomed the van and are taking the benefits from it. The PM appreciated her and said that she is not only doing good work through SHG, she is also helping the society. The PM encouraged her and said that she is an  example of woman getting atmanirbhar and benefiting the society.

The programme was also joined by a large number of Union Ministers, MPs, MLAs and local level representatives. Live screening of the programme was arranged at various locations of Assam.

In Assam Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH joined to witness live screening of PM's programme on Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in Dibrugarh district. Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in his speech said that the aim of VBSY is to reach all the eligible beneficiaries to ensure the success of the schemes. He said that under the able leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modi the country is today moving forward towards becoming a more powerful nation. Talking about the “Modi Ki Guarantee” IEC Van the minister said that the Van ensures that each and every beneficiary in each corner of the country will avail the benefits of the scheme. He said that this government has taken all the initiatives in last nine and half years to make every individual empowered.

Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of Earth Sciences also joined the live screening of PM’s interaction from Golaghat.

During the programme, Prime Minister also flagged off the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram.

Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is being undertaken across the country with the aim to attain saturation of flagship schemes of the government through ensuring that the benefits of these schemes reach all targeted beneficiaries in a time bound manner.

In a short span of just one month, the Yatra has reached more than 2.50 Crore citizens across 68,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country. Further, nearly 2 Crore individuals have taken Viksit Bharat Sankalp and over 2 Crore beneficiaries of Central Government Schemes have shared their experiences under ‘Meri Kahani Meri Zubani’ initiative.

PG/BM