Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a government programme of an unprecedented scale on Wednesday, with an aim to saturate the coverage of various government schemes in the country.
The PM will launch the ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ from Ulihatu village in Jharkhand’s Khunti on November 15 — the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda. Modi will be the first PM to visit Ulihatu, the tribal icon’s birthplace. The yatra will start from districts with significant tribal population initially and by January 25, 2024, will cover all districts across the country.
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The yatra, with 3,000 vans, will go on for two months and cover 2.5 lakh gram panchayats and 15,000 urban locations in the country. Each van will stay in a gram panchayat for two hours, in an attempt to reach out to any potential beneficiaries who have been left out of government schemes and ensure they are covered by the same. The main target is the lower and middle-class population and to ensure they get benefits of schemes if they have been left out for some reason.
Till November 22, 393 tribal blocks in 69 districts in 21 states/UTs and 9,000 gram panchayats will be covered. Following that, the yatra will pan out to other rural areas as well as urban areas.
Chief Ministers, Union and state ministers and Governors will be present at various locations during the yatra. In poll-bound states, the yatra will begin after conclusion of the model code of conduct. A total of 118 vans will be flagged off on November 15.
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The PM mentioned about his Jharkhand visit during a rally in Madhya Pradesh on Monday. “These are the last days of the elections, but after two days, I will go to the village of Birsa Munda…these are our priorities,” the PM has said.
The PM will also transfer the 15th instalment amount of about Rs 18,000 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) to more than 8 crore beneficiaries.
FOCUS ON TRIBALS
In a huge step to empower tribals, the PM will also launch the PM PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups) Development Mission in the village of Birsa Munda on Wednesday. In a first-of-its-kind mission, since Independence, the Modi government will launch a Rs 24,000 crore scheme to ensure holistic development of PVTGs on the occasion of the Jan Jaatiya Gaurav Divas.
In the budget of 2023-24, the launch of Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission was announced to improve socio-economic conditions of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). There are 75 PVTGs in 18 States and UTs living in 22,544 villages having a population of around 28 lakh.
“These tribes stay in scattered, remote & inaccessible habitations, often in forest areas and hence a mission is planned to saturate PVTG families and habitations with basic facilities such as road and telecom connectivity, electricity, safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition and sustainable livelihood opportunities,” a government source said.
The mission will be implemented through convergence of 11 interventions of nine ministries, for instance, under PMGSY, PMGAY, Jal Jeevan Mission etc. Some scheme norms will be relaxed to cover these remote habitations. In addition, separately, saturation will be ensured for PMJAY, Sickle Cell Disease Elimination, TB Elimination, 100% immunisation, PM Surakshit Matritva Yojana, PM Matru Vandana Yojana, PM Poshan, PM Jan Dhan Yojana etc, officials said.
