Narendra Modi for focus on backward areas

New Delhi: Continuing with his bid to consolidate the backward votebank, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked all Central government departments to give top priority to poor regions of the country and adopt a mission mode approach towards the 100 most backward districts in India.

The aim is to improve basic infrastructure in these areas and efforts are likely to be made to have corporate tie-ups, most likely with public sector enterprises for achieving this objective.

Directing all departments to get cracking on the programme, the Prime Minister has indicated to all secretaries in a recent high-level interaction that specific goals are to be set on various parameters in definite short timeframes for these districts.

With the Lok Sabha polls just two years away and most of these backward districts situated in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, sources said that the focus is clearly on strengthening the NDA’s presence in these places through Central sops.