The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi interacted with beneficiaries of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra today via video conferencing. Thousands of beneficiaries of Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra from across the country joined the event. The programme was also joined by Union Ministers, MPs, MLAs and local level representatives.

Speaking on the occasion the Prime Minister noted the completion of two months of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra and said that “Yatra’s Vikas Rath has turned into Vishwas Rath and there is trust that no one will be left behind.”  Keeping in mind the huge enthusiasm and demand among the beneficiaries, the Prime Minister has directed the concerned authorities to extend the VBSY beyond 26th January and into February. 

The Yatra that began with the blessing of Bhagwan Birsa Munda on 15th November, has turned into a people’s movement and up till now 15 crore people have joined this Yatra and it has covered about 80 percent panchayats.  “The main objective of Vikas Bharat Sankalp Yatra was to reach such people who, due to one reason or the other, were till now deprived of the government schemes. And Modi worships and values such people who were neglected by everyone” Said PM Modi. 

Calling VBSY a great medium of the last mile delivery, the Prime Minister informed that during the Yatra more than 4 crore health check ups were performed and 2.5 crore TB screening and 50 lakh sickle cell anaemia screenings were done. 50 lakh Ayushman cards, 33 lakh new PM Kisan beneficiaries, 25 lakh new Kisan Credit Cards, 25 lakh free gas connections and 10 lakh new SVANidhi applications were achieved during the course of the yatra so far. The Prime Minister said these may be mere figures for someone but for him every number is a life. Someone who was deprived of the benefits so far. 

The Prime Minister noted the new report on multidimensional poverty.  PM Modi said due to the efforts of the government in the last 9 years, 25 crore people have come out of poverty. “In the last 10 years, the way our government has created a transparent system, made genuine efforts and promoted public participation, it has made even the impossible possible,” he added. He explained this by giving an example of PM Awas Yojna. In the scheme more than 4 crore poor families were provided a pucca house with 70 percent of the units being registered in the name of women. This not only tackled poverty but also empowered women.  Size of the houses was increased, people’s choice was respected in the construction, construction speed was improved 300 days to 100. “This means that we are building permanent houses three times faster than before and giving them to the poor. Such efforts have played a huge role in reducing poverty in the country”, he added. 

The Prime Minister illustrated the approach of prioritizing the deprived by the example of the government’s policies for the transgenders. “This is our government which for the first time was concerned about the difficulties of the transgender community and gave priority to making their lives easier. In the year 2019, our government enacted a law protecting the rights of transgenders. This not only helped transgenders get a respectable place in the society but also ended the discrimination against them. The government also issued transgender identity certificates to thousands of people”, he said. 

The Prime Minister said “India is changing rapidly. Today, people's confidence, their faith in the government, and their determination to build a new India are visible everywhere.” Referring to his recent interaction with particularly vulnerable tribal groups, PM Modi recalled the initiative of tribal women in even the most backward areas and praised their determination to educate their people to get their rights. Talking about the steps to empower Self Help Group movement, the Prime Minister talked about efforts to connect these groups with banks, increasing the collateral free loans ceiling to 20 lakh rupees from 10 lakh, resulting in 10 crore new women getting associated with SHGs. They received more than 8 lakh crore rupees assistance for new businesses. He also mentioned 3 crore women getting empowered as female farmers, and the plan of creating 2 crore Lakhpati Didi and Namo Drone Didi scheme. He expressed happiness that more than one thousand Namo Drone Didi have finished training. 

Talking about the government's priority of modernizing the rural economy and empowering farmers, the Prime Minister listed the steps to strengthen the small farmers. He mentioned 10,000 FPOs out of which 8 thousand are already in place and 50 crore vaccinations for foot and mouth disease resulting in 50 percent increase in the milk production.

Noting India’s young demography, PM Modi noted that during the Yatra quiz competitions were organized, athletes were honoured. He expressed happiness that youth is getting registered with the MY Bharat portal as volunteers.  The Prime Minister concluded by reiterating the national resolution for a Viksit Bharat by 2047. 

Background

Since its launch on 15th November, 2023, Prime Minister has regularly interacted with the beneficiaries of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra all across the country.  The interaction has happened five times through video conferencing (30th November, 9th December 16th December, 27th December and 8th January, 2024). Also, Prime Minister interacted with Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra beneficiaries physically on two consecutive days (17th-18th December), during his visit to Varanasi last month.

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.

The number of participants in the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra has crossed 15 crore. This is a testimony of the success of Yatra in creating a profound impact on ground which is uniting people across the nation towards a shared vision of Viksit Bharat.

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DS/AK