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.
