Continuing with its agenda of pro-rural push, the NDA Government is embarking on an 11-day ‘Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Abhiyan’ (Village Self Governance campaign) from April 14, on the 125th birth anniversary of Dalit legend Bhimrao Ambedkar.
The mega campaign which aims to generate nation-wide efforts to enhance social harmony across villages, strengthen panchayati raj, promote rural development and foster farmers’ progress will be kicked off by Prime Minister Narender Modi from Ambedkar’s hometown Mhow in Madhya Pradesh.
Sharing details with reporters here, Union Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation Birender Singh said, the campaign will culminate on April 24, marked as National Panchayati Raj Day with Modi’s address to all the gram sabhas across the country from Jamshedpur.
The event will be beamed to all the villages across the States.
The 2016-17 Budget, which the Government has termed as pro-poor and pro-rural, will act as a reference point for the people in the villages, said the Minister.
During the 11-day long campaign, special event ‘Social Harmony Programme’ will be conducted in all gram panchayats in collaboration with Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. In this programme, villagers will honour Ambedkar and resolve to strengthen social harmony, the Minister added.
Subsequently, between April 17- 20 ‘Village Farmer Assemblies’ will be organised in gram panchayats with an aim to promote agriculture. In these assemblies, information regarding schemes regarding agriculture such as the Fasal Bima Yojna, Social Health Card etc. will be provided to farmers and their suggestions for bringing about improvements in agriculture will be sought.
Preceding the main event of gram sabha meetings for Panchayati Raj Day, a national meeting of tribal women gram panchayat presidents from Fifth schedule areas of ten States will be held at Vijaywada, focusing on panchayat and tribal development.
With this event, the NDA Government aims to penetrate deep into the hinterland, rural areas and Tier-2 towns and showcase its achievements of the last two years since its coming to power.
In this direction, the rural people will be made aware of the schemes aimed for their development, said the Minister.
In the Budget 2016-17, the Government has already taken initiatives for development of agriculture and the rural sector in the country.
Agriculture and farmers’ welfare have received a sum of `35,984 crores and for rural development as a whole an amount of `87,765 crores has been assigned in the Budget for 2016-17. Apart from this, a sum of `38,500 crores has been allocated for MGNREGS.