New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has underlined the important role of India’s cities in the resolution of a developed India and claimed that the government is today laying special emphasis on the development of Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities of the country and a total of 27 cities Metro has either started or work is going on. While interacting online with the beneficiaries of ‘Vikas Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ (Urban) on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that our cities have a huge role in the resolution of developed India. Whatever development took place for a long time after independence, its scope remained limited to some big cities of the country. But, today his government is emphasizing on the development of Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities of the country.
Hundreds of small cities of the country are going to strengthen the grand edifice of developed India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi further said that whether it is Amrit Mission or Smart City Mission, under these the basic facilities in small cities are being improved. Be it poor, new middle class, middle class or affluent family, everyone is getting the benefit of increasing facilities. While flagging off the Yatra in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram, Prime Minister Modi also urged the newly elected governments of these five states to rapidly expand the Vikas Bharat Sankalp Yatra in their states.
This journey could not start till now due to the election code of conduct in these five states. Referring to ‘Developed India Sankalp Yatra’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that with the resolve of developed India, Modi’s guaranteed vehicle is reaching every corner of the country. One month has passed since this journey started. In this one month, this journey has reached thousands of villages as well as 1.5 thousand cities. Most of these cities are small towns. Even though Modi has flagged off the Vikas Bharat Sankalp Yatra, the truth is that today the countrymen have taken command of that yatra. At one place where the journey ends, people from other villages or cities start leading the journey.
Referring to the Corona period, the Prime Minister said that when such a big crisis of Corona occurred, the government left no stone unturned in helping the people. His government transferred thousands of crores of rupees to the bank accounts of 20 crore women during the Corona crisis. This is their government, which has ensured free corona vaccine to every person. The government itself started the scheme of free ration for every poor during the Corona period. Referring to the steps taken to help urban families, the Prime Minister further said that today through PM Swanidhi Yojana, street vendors are getting cheap and easy loans from banks. More than 50 lakh such friends in the country have received help from banks. Even during this yatra, 1.25 lakh friends have applied for PM Swanidhi on the spot.
Gladdening to see the impact of Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatras across the country. https://t.co/11WtwGdGOj
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 16, 2023
More than 75 percent of the beneficiaries of this scheme are Dalit, backward and tribal people, out of which about 45 percent of the beneficiaries are women. That means, those who did not have any guarantee to keep in the bank, Modi’s guarantee is useful for them. The Prime Minister said that his government understands the difficulties of poor brothers and sisters who come from villages to cities for employment. His problem was that the ration card of his village was not valid in cities of other states. That is why he created ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’. Now any family can get ration in village or city on a single ration card. In the last 9 years, the Central Government has built more than 4 crore houses. Out of these, more than 1 crore houses have been provided to the urban poor.
His government is also providing every possible help to middle class families in fulfilling their dream of owning a house. So far, lakhs of middle class families have been provided assistance under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme. He further said that public transport is another major medium to provide a better life to poor and middle class families in cities. The work that has been done for modern public transport in the last 10 years is incomparable. Metro service has expanded to 15 new cities in less than 10 years. Today, metro is either operational in a total of 27 cities or work on metro is underway. In the past years, the Central Government has spent thousands of crores of rupees to run electric buses in the cities of the country. Electric buses are being run in many cities under the PM e-Bus Seva Abhiyan. Just two-three days ago, the Central Government has introduced 500 new electric buses in Delhi also. Now the number of electric buses run by the central government in Delhi has crossed 1,300.
