India works on Antyodaya vision, UN can lead way: PM Modi

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 11 : Highlighting India's vision of Antyodaya --empowering the last person in a mission mood- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that there is a need for an 'institutional approach' in helping each other during a crisis and that global organizations like the United Nations can lead the way in taking resources to the last mile in every region.
Addressing the UN World Geospatial International Congress (UNWGIC) organized in Hyderabad through video conferencing, PM Modi said, "There is a need for an institutional approach by the international community to help each other during a crisis. Global organisations like the UN can lead the way in taking resources to the last mile in every region."
The theme of the second UNWGIC is "Geo Enabling the Global Village--No one must be left behind."
Elaborating on the theme, PM Modi noted that the vision of "Antyodaya" is empowering the last person at the last mile in a mission mood. "It is a vision that has guided us in the last mile empowerment on a mass scale."
The prime minister spoke on India's development journey in connecting rural India with banking insurance and technology in general. "Banking 450 million unbanked people, a population greater than that of the USA, insuring 135 million uninsured people, about twice the population of France, taking sanitation facilities to 110 million families and tap water connection over 60 million families. India is ensuring no one is left behind."
PM Modi also highlighted that in India technology is not an agent of exclusion but an agent of inclusion. "PM-SVAMITVA Yojana is an example of how digitisation benefits people. We are using drones to map properties in villages, and using this villagers are getting their property cards," PM Modi said.
Prime Minister said that India's development journey has two key pillars -- technology and talent. "Technology brings transformation. India is the world number one in real-time digital payment, If you venture out even the smallest vendors accept and prefer digital payment. It helped the poor during COVID-19."
"For the first time in decades, people in rural areas have clear documents of ownership. Most of you know how property rights are the bedrock for prosperity anywhere in the world. This prosperity can be further accelerated when women are the prime beneficiaries of ownership. This is what we are doing in India."
The PM pointed out that India is among the top startup hubs in the world. "Since 2021, we've almost doubled the number of unicorn start-ups," he said.
The five-day conference is scheduled from October 10 to October 14, is convened by the UN committee of experts on global geospatial information management and hosted by the Department of Science and Technology.
The second congress brought together a diverse group of leaders and participants from various stakeholder groups, including: governments; national and international geospatial agencies academia; regional and international professional bodies; the business community; and civil society.
The UNWGIC facilitated the exchange of knowledge and ideas, showcase innovations, share successful case studies, identify solutions, discuss future strategies, and provide mutual learning opportunities on a wide variety of topics.
The anchoring themes of the UNWGIC will be the nine Strategic Pathways of the United Nations Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF). Other related themes include the use of geospatial information: to collect, manage, report, and act on indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals; to address climate change; to support sustainable development, to promote and ensure professional diversity; and to showcase country-level action plans or alignment of existing national capabilities to the IGIF.