NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) and invited all MPs to select a village to develop on a demand-driven, rather than supply-driven model, with peoples participation.
Under this scheme, which was announced by the Prime Minister in his Independence day address, every MP will be free to choose any village, but it should not be his or her or that of in-laws. Taking initiative, Modi said that he will choose a village in Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
Addressing the gathering after releasing the guidelines for the scheme, the Prime Minister said that all the governments, from the time of independence, have worked for rural development. These attempts should be progressively modified with time, in tune with changes happening across the world. He said though government schemes were working across the country, in each state there are only a few villages that the state could be proud of.
“This shows that there was something extra that the leadership and people in those villages had done, beyond government schemes. This ‘something extra’ is the spirit behind Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana,” Modi said. The Prime Minister also said that if one village is developed in a block, it is also likely to have a ‘viral’ effect and development would permeate other villages also.
Maintaining that this scheme is not a money driven scheme, Modi said, “This is people driven and is going to march ahead with people’s participation. The aspirations of villagers are no less than aspirations of city dwellers.”
“The model of our development has been supply driven. Schemes are in Delhi and Lucknow and pushed further. We want to change it from supply driven to demand driven,” Modi said.
Stating that the SAGY would provide a flexible approach towards development, the PM expressed hope that the ‘Adarsh grams’ would become places of pilgrimage for people interested in learning about rural development.
Modi sought inspiration from Loknayak Jayaprakash Narain on his anniversary, saying people’s articipation in development is essential in building an Adarsh Gram. He also paid tribute to Nanaji Deshmukh, who had worked towards the concept of village self-sufficiency.