Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a 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 emphasized the importance of good governance to reach the last mile, saying that such an approach would leave no room for discrimination and corruption. Mr. Modi also emphasized the marginalization of marginalized Muslims as he highlighted his government’s efforts to reach out to the most deprived sections of society with various welfare schemes.
In a post-Budget webinar on “reaching the last mile”, the prime minister said his government was launching a special mission for the most deprived among the tribals.
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“We have to urgently provide various facilities to our tribal people in more than 200 districts and more than 22,000 villages of the country. Similarly, among our minorities, especially Muslims, there are backward Muslims. How can we benefit them… Because today even after so many years of independence, they are far behind,” he said.
The backward classes of Muslims are called backward Muslims.
Mr. Modi said the saturation policy, reference to 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 commitment is also needed for development and said that the development of tribal communities has been a priority of his government.
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Emphasizing the importance of good governance and continuous monitoring for the desired goals, he said, “The more emphasis we put on good governance, the easier our goal of reaching the last mile will be.” For the first time, he asserted, the country is harnessing the huge potential of its tribals on this scale, adding that the latest Union Budget has taken the mantra of last mile reach to tribal and rural areas. Special attention has been given.
This post-budget thinking is important from the point of view of prudent implementation and timely delivery. It also ensures proper use of every penny of taxpayers’ money, he said.
He said a “whole of nation” approach was needed to speed up the provision of facilities as a special mission to the most deprived in the tribal community.
In the context, the Prime Minister said that the ambitious district 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 measures announced in Union Budget 2023.
Mr Modi gave examples of Mission Indira Dhanush 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 methods when the poor used to run behind the government for basic facilities, now the government is reaching the doorsteps of the poor.
The day we decide that every citizen in every area will be provided with every basic facility, then we will see what a big change will happen in the work culture at the local level. This is the spirit behind the saturation policy. When our goal is to reach out to all, then there will be no room for discrimination, nepotism and corruption.
He said that work on more than 60,000 “Nectar Sarvars” has started and 30,000 of them have already been constructed. He said that thousands of crores of rupees have been allocated for the Jal Jeevan Mission to provide drinking water in rural areas.
He said that till 2019, only 3 crore households in rural areas were getting piped drinking water and now the number has crossed 11 crore. “These campaigns are improving the quality of life of Indians living in remote areas, who have been waiting for such facilities for decades. We do not need to stop here. We also have to look at how water What can be done to make the committee stronger?
The Prime Minister asked the stakeholders to discuss ways to connect houses with technology to find ways to build strong yet affordable houses, find simple ways to harness solar power and group housing model for urban and Both are acceptable in rural areas.
He said that in this year’s budget, 80 thousand crore rupees have been set aside for housing for the poor. This budget has also set a target of complete eradication of sickle cell disease. This requires a “whole-of-nation approach,” he said, with every health stakeholder acting swiftly.
