Maximum efforts should be made to ensure that all government services and benefits reach the most marginalised people in the country, be it the tribespeople living in the remotest corners or the Pasmanda Muslims who have remained backward, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
Mr. Modi was speaking on the importance of “reaching the last-mile” and “good governance” while addressing the inaugural session of a post-Budget webinar.
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The webinar was the fourth in a series of 12 post-Budget webinars being held by the government to seek ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Citing how the Aspirational District Programme (ADP) had become a “success model”, Mr. Modi talked about the launch of the Aspirational Block Programme, which will keep with the government’s philosophy of focusing on last-mile delivery and policy of saturation. This programme, much like the ADP, will focus on building best practices in delivery of government services at the block level.
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Focus on tribes
The webinar laid a special focus on key policies announced for tribal communities in the Budget, such as the PM Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) Development Mission, extensive plans for recruiting teachers at Eklavya Model Residential Schools for tribal children, and the National Mission to eradicate Sickle-Cell Disease, which disproportionately affects tribal populations in the country.
“If you remember, there was a time when it took decades for vaccines to reach far-flung areas of the country. The country was lagging behind in terms of vaccination coverage and crores of children from villages and tribal belts had to wait for years to get vaccines,” the PM said, adding that it was his government that brought in “Mission Indradhanush” with the approach of “last-mile delivery” and “good governance”, which improved delivery of vaccines.
The PM also spoke of schemes like ‘Svanidhi’ for street vendors, which is about connecting such businesspeople to the formal banking system, and the Jal Jeevan Mission, the next step for which, the PM said, would be to start measuring water consumption and plan ways to save and recycle water.
Speaking of the schemes designed for the benefit of tribal communities, Mr. Modi said that a special mission for PVTGs had been announced for the first time. Further stressing on the need for a “whole of the nation” approach, he said that the government and all stakeholders must figure out how to take all government benefits to all minorities.
Published - February 27, 2023 10:55 pm IST
