Page 31 - NIS English 16-31 August 2023

Union Rural Development Minister Interview

with MGNREGA. Special campaigns are going on for
water conservation. More Amrit Sarovars have been
built so far than the target. Panchayats are being
given 4 times more money than before. Panchayats How do you see the road ahead
are being made carbon neutral. Work is being done for a strong rural India?
in the direction of Green Panchayat so that the water See, the Prime Minister has always been dedicated
of the village goes to the village and the water of the to the welfare of the poor and the villages. There
fields goes to the fields. is an experience of life in his every policy and plan,

so he associates himself with the poor. He believes
n In order to meet the basic needs of the village, how that India will develop only when the villages of
have the issues pending for decades been resolved? India develop. In this direction, incomparable efforts
have been implemented in the last 9 years. Now in
n Today, with the vision and cooperation of Prime the next five years, we have to walk on the path of
Minister Modi, every household is being given toilets changing picture of rural India, where no house will
and water. We are engaged in making education- be found without a roof. Self-employment has got a
rich panchayats, carbon-neutral panchayats and new dimension and the definition of employment has
employment-rich panchayats. About 10 crore women changed at the village level. The village has benefited
from every family in rural areas are being linked to from the reach of technology and whether it is
self-help groups. Women are not only associated with internet consumption or benefits of other schemes,
the village is looking ahead. So I can say that we
this for livelihood, but have also become an example. are moving forward with a changing picture and a
Property is being digitized under SVAMITVA Yojana. changing path.
The registry is being digitized. Now it is our endeavor
to link the digitization of property with the courts so
that the disposal of civil cases is quick. The role of of a poor person, he had to sell his jewelery or farm,
panchayats is important in disaster management. For otherwise he would be suffering. Now for the first
this, a letter has been written to the Chief Ministers time insurance of Rs 5 lakhs was given. Modi ji has
of the states. Similarly, the world's benchmark taken all measures to bring changes in the lives of
regarding NPA is 2 per cent, it is 1.8 per cent in self- the poor.
help groups. Whereas in earlier times it was up to 9
percent. Banking sector reforms and e-governance n How is the principle of Antyodaya of Pt. Deendayal
initiatives have made villages prosperous. Upadhyay being realized?

n Recently, in a report of NITI Aayog, it has been n Antyodaya is a poor welfare scheme. Today, 80 crore
revealed that in the last few years, due to the efforts people are being given food grains in the country.
of the Central Government, more than 13 crore People who do not face hunger cannot experience
population has come out of the poverty line, in which it. See how the village became the biggest support
the fastest reduction in poverty has been seen in during the Covid period itself. The Prime Minister
rural areas? himself said that the strength shown by the villages
n In fact, 13.5 crore people have come out of the poverty during the Covid period helped in winning the war
line, so people ask how it happened? Housing - In 29 against Corona. If the vaccine was available for 1200
years, Indira Awas has built only three crore houses or 12 thousand, then the capable people would have
and now in less than nine years, three crore houses taken it. Would the poor be able to take it? Is there a
have been built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana record till date that the vaccine has reached before
- Rural. Those who do not see poverty, they talk to 22-25 years? There is a saying - the wearer knows
those who were sleeping under the roof. Today, 2 where the shoe pinches. Some people go to Kalavati's
lakh 15 thousand crore rupees have been spent in the house and understand poverty. No one can plan for
village under MGNREGA in 9 years. Ujjwala provided poverty alleviation by learning from Kalavati's house.
cooking gas connections, Jan Dhan account linked Prime Minister Modi himself has seen poverty, lived
all the families of the village to the bank. Look at in poverty. That's why only one who has seen and
Ayushman Bharat that if someone fell ill in the house lived poverty will make the right plan for the poor.

New India Samachar August 16-31, 2023 29