The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi addressing the Budget Webinar on ‘Reaching the Last Mile’, through video conferencing, in New Delhi on February 27, 2023. Photo: Twitter/@PIB_India via PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 27 stressed on the importance of good governance to reach the last mile, saying that in such an approach there would be no scope for discrimination and corruption. Shri Modi also underlined the backwardness of Pasmanda Muslims and highlighted his government’s efforts to reach out to the most deprived sections of the society with its various welfare schemes.
In a post-Budget webinar on “Reaching the Last Mile”, the Prime Minister said his government is launching a special mission for the most disadvantaged among tribals.
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“We have to quickly provide various facilities to our tribal people in more than 200 districts and more than 22,000 villages in the country. Similarly, among our minorities, especially Muslims, we have Pasmanda Muslims. How do we have to take advantage of them.. because even after so many years of independence, they are still far behind.
The backward classes of Muslims have been described as Pasmanda Muslims.
Shri Modi said that the policy of saturation, the context of maximum coverage of various schemes and the approach to reach the last mile complement each other.
The Prime Minister said that along with money, political will is needed for development and emphasized that the development of tribal communities has been a priority of his government.
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Emphasizing on the importance of good governance and continuous monitoring for the desired goals, he said, “The more we emphasize on good governance, the easier it will be to reach the last mile.” For the first time, he asserted, the country is harnessing the vast potential of its tribals on this scale, adding that the latest Union Budget has given special attention to the mantra of last mile reach to tribal and rural areas.
This post-budget brainstorming is crucial from the point of view of implementation and time-bound delivery. He said that this would ensure proper utilization of every penny of taxpayers’ money.
He said a “whole-of-nation” approach is needed to provide speedy facilities in the form of a special mission for the most disadvantaged of the tribal community.
In this context, the Prime Minister said that the Aspirational Districts Program has emerged as a successful model in terms of reaching the last mile.
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Monday’s address was the fourth in a series of 12 post-budget webinars organized by the government to seek ideas and suggestions for effective implementation of initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023.
Mr Modi gave examples of Mission Indradhanush and new approaches in immunization and vaccine coverage in the Covid pandemic to illustrate the power of good governance in last mile delivery. He said that unlike earlier when the poor used to run after the government for basic facilities, now the government is reaching the doorsteps of the poor.
“The day we decide that every basic facility will be provided to every citizen in every area, then we will see a huge change in the work culture at the local level. This is the spirit behind the policy of saturation. When our aim is to reach out to all, there will be no scope for discrimination, nepotism and corruption.
He said that work has started on more than 60,000 “Amrit Sarovar” and 30,000 of them have been constructed. He said that thousands of crores have been allocated to Jal Jeevan Mission to provide drinking water in rural areas.
He said that till 2019, only three crore households in rural areas had access to drinking water and their number has now crossed 11 crore. “These campaigns are improving the quality of life of Indians living far and wide, who have been waiting for such facilities for decades. We don’t have to stop here. We also have to review what can be done to further strengthen the Jal Samiti.
PM asks stakeholders to discuss ways to link housing with technology to find ways to build strong yet affordable homes, find easy ways to benefit from solar energy and group-housing model acceptable in both urban and rural areas asked for.
He said that 80 thousand crore rupees have been kept for housing for the poor in this year’s budget. A target has also been set in this budget to get rid of sickle cell disease completely. This requires a “whole-of-country approach”, he said, noting that every stakeholder concerned with health will have to act swiftly.