Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed confidence that rural villages would be able stop the second wave of the Covid-19 “like they did last year.”
Addressing a ceremony of Panchayat Raj Diwas, he said the challenge before the nation posed by the pandemic is “a little more than the last year” and villages should “stop at all cost the entry of the pandemic.”
“Is varsh bhi hamare samne jo chunauti hain, vo chunauti pahle se zara zyada hain ki gaon tak is sankraman ko kisi bhi halat main pahuchne nahin dena hain, use rokna hi hain”, said Modi.
Prime Minister said like last year it is the rural regions which would emerge victorious over the pandemic.
He asked Panchayat representatives who he said, now possess knowledge and expertise, to ensure that Covid19 guidelines be adhered to in the villages and all get vaccinated.
On the occasion, Modi launched the distribution of e-property cards under the SWAMITVA scheme. Prime Minister also conferred the National Panchayat Awards 2021 on the occasion.
Chief Ministers of eight States joined the event, held virtually with a large number of local body representatives who connected to the ceremony. Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar also attended the event.
“I have this confidence that if someone is going to emerge victorious first in this fight against the coronavirus, then it is going to be India’s villages, the leadership of these villages... The people of the villages will show the way to the country and the world,” the Prime Minister said.
As many as 4.09 lakh property owners were given their e-property cards, which also marked the rolling out of the SWAMITVA scheme for implementation across the country.
The Prime Minister said last year SWAMITVA yojna was implemented in six States and its good impact had started showing-up there. He said under this scheme, entire village land and other properties are surveyed by a drone and owners are given their ownership documents. He said just now four lakh owners in five thousand villages have been alloted their ‘e-property cards’.
“SWAMITVA yojna has given a new self-confidence and sense of security to villages”, said Modi.
“Gaon ke ghar ka naksha, apni sammpatti ka dastavez jab haath main hota hain to anek prakar ki ashankayen khatm ho jati hain. Isse gaon main zameen-jayyezad par hone wale jhagde bhi khatm huain hain”, said the Prime Minister.
Modi said Government has given Rs 2.25 lakh crore in the hands of Panchayats for the development of villages, an amount so big was never earmarked for them in the past, he said.