"Want Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra to reach every poor person, rural or urban": PM Modi

New Delhi [India], December 16 : After flagging off the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in five States, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his intention to elevate the yatra to new heights and ensure that it reaches every poor person in rural and urban areas.
Speaking to the mass audience via video conferencing, the Prime Minister said, "I want to make this yatra reach each and every poor person in the village and the cities. In 2047, when India will complete 100 years of independence, we have to make sure that this country will be developed."
"We have to generate this environment. We will do everything good and make the country good. This yatra will be beneficial in making this environment," said PM Modi.
The Prime Minister also said that street vendors and hawkers had become hopeless and that the Modi government connected them with the banking system, which, as a result, benefited over 50 lakh people by receiving loans from banks under the PM SVANidhi scheme.
"Our street vendors and hawkers had become hopeless. They had accepted that they had to live like this and thought nothing was going to change. No one was there to ask them anything. Our government connected them with the banking system. They are getting easier loans from banks under the PM SVANidhi scheme," said the PM.
"More than 50 lakh such people have benefited from it. During this yatra, 1.25 lakh people have applied for the scheme. More than 75 per cent of the beneficiaries of the PM SVANidhi scheme are Dalits, backwards and tribal. And in that too, 45 per cent are women," he added.
PM Modi also spoke about the Jan Aushadhi Kendras and said, "Till now, people living in cities have saved more than Rs 25,000 crores because of the Jan Aushadhi Kendras. The number of PM Jan Aushadhi Kendra will be increased to 25,000 soon."
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram, the five states where assembly elections were held recently.
The yatra started in other states earlier, and its launch in the five states was delayed due to the model code of conduct in place due to the elections.
"I request every state government to expand the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra rapidly in their respective states. Even though Modi has flagged off the yatra, the truth is that the countrymen have taken command of that journey all by themselves," said the PM.
During the virtual interaction with the beneficiaries of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, "It was PM Modi's concern that no one should be left behind. Many people do 'yatra'. Some for physical benefits and some for personal gains, but this 'yatra' is such that it is for the benefit of the 140 crore people of the country.
"Interacting with the beneficiaries of the 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra', PM Modi inquired about their experiences, discussed what schemes benefitted them and also asked if they faced any hurdles while receiving the benefits of the central government's schemes.
The Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra was launched by the Prime Minister on November 15 in Khunti, Jharkhand.
As a part of on-the-spot services under the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, health camps are being organised at the places of the halt of the IEC Van in the Gram Panchayats.
The Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is a nationwide initiative to inform and empower citizens about government schemes.
It is being undertaken across the country to attain the saturation of flagship schemes of the government by ensuring that the benefits of these schemes reach all targeted beneficiaries in a time-bound manner.