Page 14 - NIS English 16-31 August 2023

Cover Story Empowering Rural India

I remember when the Jan Dhan Yojana was
started, the old-fashioned people used to
ask me questions like, If the poor did not
have money, what would he do by opening
a bank account? The burden on banks will
increase. How does a bank employee work?
Disappointment was expressed in different
ways. But my colleagues in the banks
worked day and night to open Jan Dhan
accounts for the poor. If about 50 crore Jan
Dhan bank accounts have been opened in
the country today, it is due to the hard work
of our employees working in the bank. They
have a sense of service.

-Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

reach of development could not be ensured. By the
time it reached the village, 1 rupee was reduced to
15 paise. However, the change in 2014 provided
the country with a powerful and strong decision-
making leadership that had not only seen but also
felt the problems of village poverty.
Therefore, whether it is the timely completion
of the target of electrifying the remaining 18,500
villages of the country or providing LPG connection
to the kitchen of every household, reaching the
doorstep of more than 50 percent of the population
who were away from the banking system, and population lives in rural areas, and 47 percent of
providing free health insurance up to Rs. 5 lakh for the population relies on agriculture for a living. The
better health, the list of such schemes is very long, central government is emphasising the promotion
which have freed the village-poor and deprived from of a high standard of living in rural areas in order
decades of suffering. The principle of Antyodaya, to achieve more equitable and inclusive growth in
which means upliftment of the person at the lowest rural areas. Since 2015-16, the standard of living
rung of society, has been realised. has changed continuously, according to data from

Rural India: The foundation the National Family Health Survey 2019-21. This
of a developed India year's Economic Survey data provides indicators
Rural development has always been a priority for that indicate an improvement in the villagers'
the central government. According to this year's standard of living. These include, among other
economic review, 65 percent of the country's things, people's access to electricity, the availability

12 New India Samachar August 16-31, 2023