BHOPAL: Tuesday turned memorable for 5.21 lakh poor families in Madhya Pradesh as they got pucca houses of their own under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin).
Joining these poor families on the Grih Pravesh (house-warming) event as the special guest was none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While PM Modi joined the event virtually from Delhi, MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan joined the event physically at the state-level house-warming event in Chhatarpur district of Bundelkhand region.
At the event, the PM gave a fervent call to every state for constructing 75 Amrit Sarovars (big ponds) in each district within a year, starting from the Varsh Pratipada (Hindu New Year on April 2) as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsava celebrations.
"Lot of groundwater has been exhausted and it's time we dedicate ourselves to constructing 75 Amrit Sarovars in every district to quench the thirst of Mother Earth. I urge every state, each local body and local panchayat to work on this, starting from Varsh Pratipada. The MNREGA funds can be utilized for this and the results will be greatly beneficial for the land, nature, small farmers, women and even birds and animals," the PM appealed.
While gracing the house-warming event, the PM emphasized that "these 5.21 lakh houses built in villages under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are not just statistics. These 5.21 lakh houses are the identity of the poor getting strong in the country. This campaign of providing pucca houses to the poor is not just a government scheme but a commitment to instill confidence in the rural poor. This is the first step in bringing the poor out of poverty. These houses reflect the service spirit and a campaign to make women of the villages 'lakhpati'."
As against a few lakh houses constructed earlier, the PM said that this government has already handed over 2.5 crore pucca houses out of which 2 crore are in the rural areas. Not even the pandemic could slow this campaign. In Madhya Pradesh, 24 lakh out of the approved 30 lakh houses are already benefiting, among others, Baiga, Sahariya and Bhariya tribe people.
Houses under PMAY come equipped with toilets, Saubhagya Yojna electricity Connection, Ujala Scheme LED bulb, Ujjwala gas Connection and water connection under Har Ghar Jal, saving the beneficiaries the hassle of running around for these benefits.
The Prime Minister said that among the houses constructed under the PMAY scheme, almost two crore are registered in the name of women. This ownership has strengthened the participation of women in the financial decision-making of the household. Reiterating the government's commitment to enhance the dignity and ease of living of women, the Prime Minister said that in the last two and half years more than 6 crore households have been provided tap water connection for drinking water.
Addressing the event, the MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that the journey of building pucca houses for the poor in MP will not stop, as Rs 10,000 crore has been provisioned in this year's state budget for building 10 lakh houses this year, to fulfil the PM's dream of every poor having pucca house of own by 2024-25.
The PM said that the government has spent Rs 2 lakh 60 thousand crore for providing free rations to the poor. As the scheme has been extended for the next 6 months, an additional Rs 80,000 crore rupees will be spent on this. In tune with the government's commitment to provide full benefit to the intended beneficiaries, the government has weeded out 4 crore fake beneficiaries from the records.
The Prime Minister said that for a long time, the rural economy was restricted to agriculture. Along with encouragement to modern technology like drones and ancient systems like natural farming, the government is opening new avenues in the villages. He complimented the Madhya Pradesh government and the Chief Minister for creating new records in the country in the procurement of food grains from farmers on MSP. Farmers in MP also received Rs 13000 crore under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi.