To bring Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s resolve of ‘Viksit Bharat’ to the ground level in practical terms, the two-day Rashtriya Gramin Vikas organised by the Ministry of Rural Development was inaugurated today in Delhi by Union Minister of Rural Development, and Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan. On the first day, senior officials and experts from the states engaged in deep discussions and deliberations on various rural development schemes in different sessions. On June 29, which is the second day, Rural Development Ministers from all states and Union Territories will join the conference to discuss policy directions and a collective roadmap. Union Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Kamlesh Paswan and Dr. Chandrashekhar Pemmnasani were also present during the inaugural session.

In his inaugural address, Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan clearly stated that this conference is not merely a formality but a very thoughtfully designed strategy connected to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’. Shri Shivraj Singh said that this two-day national deliberation is fundamentally a shared effort of ‘Team India – Team Rural Development’. He clarified from the stage that there is no main guest here but a united team of officers and ministers from the Centre and the states is present and he himself is also a member of this very team. Quoting lines from former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said that the height should not be such that we are unable to embrace others and this same feeling should also be reflected in the policies and implementation of rural development.

Describing Prime Minister Shri Modi as the ‘Man of Ideas’, Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that there is a deep yearning in his heart for a developed, empowered, self-reliant and glorious India. He said that this yearning can be successfully transformed into results only when all the officers present here today and tomorrow and all the ministers arriving tomorrow work day and night with the same mantra and resolve so that the development of villages can be directly connected to the story of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

Villages: Soul of India and Strong Unit of Democracy

In his inaugural speech, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan placed special emphasis on the importance of villages and said that India cannot be imagined without villages and villages are the centre of India’s soul, economy, identity, civilisation and culture. Describing villages as the strongest unit of democracy, he said that this two-day conference is actually the ‘Amrit Manthan’ of rural prosperity from which the nectar that emerges will reach every village of the country in the coming years.

Addressing the officers, he said that merely formulating schemes is not sufficient and ensuring last-mile delivery is the biggest responsibility. Sharing Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s thoughts, he reiterated that “the government should not be seen only in files but in the lives of the people”, and this will happen only when every scheme’s benefit reaches the deserving beneficiary without any hassle, without any bribe and without wasting any time.

Reforms and Viksit Bharat – Focus on VB - G RAM - G

Union Minister Shri Shivraj Chouhan appealed for genuine reform and deliberation in various sessions and said that wherever there are obstacles in rules, procedures and implementation, they should be honestly identified and changed because merely making a scheme is not enough and delivering the scheme properly is essential. While speaking on MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), Shri Shivraj Singh referred to the study conducted during his tenure as Chief Minister and said that in many places work was done by machines instead of labourers, there were irregularities in muster rolls and wrong attendance leading to massive misuse of funds. He clearly stated that corrective changes are now being made, the number of work days for labourers has been increased from 100 to 125 and the resolve is that no needy labourer should remain without work. He also said that if the annual provision of more than one and a half lakh crore rupees and the huge investment of Rs. 75 lakh crore over the next five years reaches the panchayats properly and is utilised effectively then the basic picture of villages can be changed decisively.

Conference Focused on the Entire Rural Development Ecosystem

Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan informed that this two-day conference is not focused on a single scheme but on the entire ecosystem of rural development. Under Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar & Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB - GRAM - G), the concept of developed villages (Viksit Gaon) for developed India (Viksit Bharat); honourable rural housing through Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) (PMAY - G); strong road network through Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY); livelihoods and entrepreneurship through National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and rural skills; and social security through National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) – all these are being integrated into one framework so that Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ gains momentum at the grassroots level.

Referring to the ongoing physical verification campaign under PMAY-G, he warned that declaring any eligible beneficiary as ineligible is a great sin and it must be ensured that no poor family is deprived of a house merely due to arbitrariness or bias. He also stressed promoting innovations like collective material procurement, mason training and convergence in the states.

Lakhpati Didis, Rural Entrepreneurship and Women Power

Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan highlighted the role of women under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission and said that till now crores of sisters have increased their income by joining self-help groups and lakhs of Lakhpati Didis have emerged. Under the guidance of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the target is to take this number to 6 crore for which sisters now need to be prepared not only at the group level but also at the individual level as modern entrepreneurs. He said that moving beyond papad-achar, rural sisters must be taken forward to food processing, agri-business, service sector and digital platforms only then rural entrepreneurship can truly become the backbone of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and NSAP: Access and Security

Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan described the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana started by former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a historic initiative that changed the picture of rural India and said that the work of connecting villages that had lagged behind due to lack of roads to the mainstream is progressing rapidly. He said that with a better road network, education, health and market facilities are reaching villages and farmers are able to get better prices. He said that the review of schemes like old age pension, widow pension and disability pension under the National Social Assistance Programme is also an important part of the two-day agenda. Emphasising transparency and timeliness in pension distribution through digital platforms, he said that strengthening social security is necessary in the direction of a sensitive India.

Team Spirit and Mission Mode

Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan inspired officers and the ministers arriving tomorrow to consider government work not merely as a job but as a mission of national service. He said that changing the vision changes the energy of work; if we consider our work as the good fortune of changing the picture of rural India then every meeting, every session and this two-day conference can become ‘Amrit Manthan’. Referring to the qualities of a sattvic worker described by Lord Shri Krishna – free from attachment, without ego, patient and full of enthusiasm – he said that one person can change a village, one officer can change an entire district, one leader can change the entire country and today Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is doing the work of changing the country. He asked all states to take a resolve that they will treat rural development as a mission in their respective states and carry the ‘Amrit’ emerging from this conference back to their states and reach village to village.

Two-Day Conference: First Day Officials, Second Day Ministers

On the inaugural day, the focus of the conference was kept on scheme implementation, progress review and reform suggestions. Detailed sessions were organised in different halls on Viksit Bharat – Gram (VB - GRAM - G), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin), National Rural Livelihoods Mission and Rural Skills (NRLM & Skills), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). After in-depth deliberations by officers on scheme overview, state-wise progress review, presentation of best practices, use of technology and AI, and financial management, on the second day political leadership will formally join this deliberation when Rural Development Ministers from all states and union territories participate in the plenary sessions.

Union Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Chandrashekhar Pemmnasani stressed that to control increasing migration and population pressure in cities, it is extremely necessary to empower rural communities and develop sustainable livelihoods. He described the transformation from MGNREGA to ‘VB - G RAM - G’ as turning job creation into asset and wealth creation in which more than 300 types of productive and permanent infrastructure can be prepared within villages.

Along with this, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Kamlesh Paswan said that in the last two years with the cooperation of states the Ministry has done excellent work in strengthening villages, stopping migration and making rural women self-reliant through ‘Lakhpati Didi’ scheme and self-help groups. He informed that under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) deprived villages are being connected with pucca roads, eligible people are being given pucca houses with basic facilities and by eliminating leakages in MGNREGA a new form and roadmap has been given to it as ‘VB - G RAM - G’ for the development of the next 20 years.

Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Shri Rohit Kansal while giving details of the glorious achievements of the department in the last 12 years said that nearly 8 lakh kilometres of roads have been built in the country, 3 crore pucca houses have been prepared, 3 crore Lakhpati Didis have been created and 10 crore rural women have been linked to Self-Help Groups. He made it clear that the department is now at an important juncture where for the next decade collective thinking is needed on the maintenance of these assets, saturation of schemes and further increasing the ‘Ease of Living’ of the countrymen.

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RC/PU/MK

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