PM reaches out to poor, says ‘gram swaraj abhiyan’ a hit

New Delhi: With an eye on 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of his government’s fourth anniversary tried to reach out to the farmers and poorest of the poor. The Prime Minister spoke about his government’s success in delivering services to the rural population and poorest of the poor. At the same time he tried to reach out to dalits.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, Mr Modi shared details of the “Gram Swaraj Abhiyan”, terming it as a unique movement initiated by the government to take the “fruits of development to the poorest of the poor in 16,850 villages from April 14 to May 5 as a tribute to B.R. Ambedkar”.

As a part of the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, he said that various teams ventured into villages and ensured complete coverage of seven leading Central government schemes.

“This movement is a great example of effective service delivery at the doorstep and furthering ease of living. During 21 days of Gram Swaraj Abhiyan,  7.53 lakh Ujjwala connections distributed; 5,02,434 households electrified under Saubhagya Yojana; 25.03 lakh LED bulbs distributed across 16,682 villages;  Immunisation of 1,64,398 children and 42,762 women under Mission Indradhanush,” he said.

Belting out figures, the Prime Minister said from April 14 to May 5, 20,53,599 Jan Dhan beneficiaries were added; 16,14,388 Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana beneficiaries were added and another 26,10,506 beneficiaries were included under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.

He said the project was a success due to the active participation of ministers, MPs, MLAs, representatives of various local bodies, officials of the state governments, topmost officers of the central government, civil society members and self-help groups. “I thank them all.”

The Modi government will complete four years on May 26.