The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi participated in ‘Grih Pravesham’ of about 5.21 Lakh beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana - Gramin in Madhya Pradesh today via video conferencing. Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union and state ministers, Members of Parliament and state legislators were among those present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister congratulated the beneficiaries for their  ‘Grih Pravesham’ in the upcoming new year of Vikram Samvat. The Prime Minister said that earlier, political parties did not do enough for the poor despite their professed stance. “Once the poor are empowered, they have the courage to fight poverty. When efforts of an honest government and efforts of empowered poor come together, poverty is defeated”, he said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that “these 5.25 lakh houses built in villages under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are not just statistics These 5.25 lakh houses are the identity of the poor getting strong in the country.” Shri Modi further said that this campaign of providing pucca houses to the poor is not just a government scheme but a commitment to instil confidence in the rural poor. “This is the first step of bringing the poor out of poverty”, he said. “These houses reflect the service spirit and a campaign to make women of the villages ‘lakhpati’.”, he added.

As against few lakh houses constructed earlier, the Prime Minister said that this government has already handed over 2.5 crore pucca houses out of which 2 crore are in the rural areas. Not even the pandemic could slow this campaign, said the Prime Minister. In Madhya Pradesh 24 lakh out of approved 30 lakh houses are already complete benefiting, among other, Baiga, Sahariya and Bhariya samaj people.

Houses under PMAY, the Prime Minister informed, come equipped with toilet, Saubhagya Yojna electricity Connection, Ujala Scheme LED bulb, Ujjwala gas Connection and water connection under Har Ghar Jal, saving the beneficiaries the hassle of running around for these benefits. 

The Prime Minister, said that among the houses constructed under the PMAY scheme, almost two crore houses are registered in the name of the women. This ownership has strengthened the participation of the women in the financial decision-making of the household. Reiterating the government’s commitment to enhance the dignity and ease of living of the women, the Prime Minister said that in the last two and half years more than 6 crore households have been provided tap water connection for drinking water.

The Prime Minister said that the government has spent 2 lakh 60 thousand crore rupees for providing free ration to the poor. As the scheme has been extended for next 6 months, additional 80 thousand crore rupees will be spent for this.  In tune with the government’s commitment to provide full benefit to the intended beneficiaries, the government has weeded out the 4 crore fake beneficiaries from the record. Post 2014 this exercise was undertaken so that poor get their deserved benefit and money is saved from being pilfered by unscrupulous elements. During Amrit Kaal effort is to take the basic facilities to every beneficiary. He said by aiming for saturation in the schemes the government is eliminating the possibility of discrimination and corruption.

Through formalizing property record under the Svamitva scheme, the government is easing the business climate in the villages. In Madhya Pradesh, 50 thousand villages in all the districts are being surveyed.

The Prime Minister said that for a long-time, rural economy was restricted to agriculture. Along with encouragement to modern technology like drones and ancient system like natural faming government is opening new avenues in the villages.  He complimented the Madhya Pradesh government and the Chief Minister for creating new records in MSP procurement. Madhay Pradesh Farmer also received 13 thousand crore rupees under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi.

The Prime Minister called for constructing 75 Amrit Sarovars (Ponds) in every districts in the upcoming new year (Pratipada) . He asked these Sarovars to be new and big. He said MNREGA funds can be utilized for this and it will be greatly beneficial for the land, nature, small farmers, women and even birds and animals. He appealed to every state government, local bodies and panchayats to work in this direction.

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DS