Dr. Parveen Kumar
As the nation walks with the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra (VBSY); the Yatra has emerged as a powerful tool for bridging the gap between the government and its citizens, ensuring that the benefits of various schemes reach those for whom they are meant and need them most. There is no dearth of various pro people’ welfare schemes but unfortunately peoples for whom these are being programmed are unable to get benefits of these schemes. There are so many reasons for this, the major being the lack of awareness about them. This ultimately defeats the purpose for which they are being framed and the situation on the ground remains the same despite of tall claims. To overcome this and to bridge this inaccessibility and awareness gap between the government and the potential beneficiaries regarding the schemes, this nationwide ‘Sankalp Yatra’ has been planned and is going on.
The ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’, a nationwide outreach initiative of the central government aims at informing and empowering citizens about the about seventeen to eighteen flagships schemes of the Central Governments started in the last eight to nine years in all the 2.7 lakh Panchayats of the country. These schemes have especially been started for the socio-economic upliftment of poor, marginalized and deprived sections of the society. The ‘Yatra’ is taking various plans and facilities of the government to those people who have been neglected so far, who don’t even have information about them. Even if they have information, they don’t know how to access them. The Yatra launched on 15th November, 2023 on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Divas by flagging off IEC (Information, Education and Communication) Vans which initially visited the districts having significant Scheduled Tribe population and the remaining districts from third week of November 2023 onwards up to 26 January 2024. The Government of India, with participation of States and Union Territories, is actively engaged in the mission of saturation through its flagship schemes for providing basic amenities like sanitation facilities, essential financial services, access to LPG connections, housing for the poor, food security, proper nutrition, reliable healthcare, clean drinking water, quality education etc. and making required services accessible to all targeted and eligible beneficiaries. The Yatra besides enrolling potential beneficiaries also aims at learning from the citizens by interaction with beneficiaries of various government schemes through personal success stories and sharing of their experiences positive and negative.
The Yatra is showcasing the positive impact of the Prime Minister’s flagship schemes. The various welfare measures of the government include Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) meant to promote financial inclusion by providing banking services to all households in the country, Ayushman Bharat comprising of Pradhan Matri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) and Health and Wellness Centers (HWC). The PMJAY is the largest health assurance scheme in the world which aims to provide a health cover of rupees 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to over 12 crore poor and vulnerable families across different public and private empanelled hospitals in the country. Similarly PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) is a one year life insurance scheme renewable on a yearly basis offering coverage for death. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) is a one year accidental insurance scheme renewable from year to year offering coverage for death or disability due to accident. Persons in the age group of 18-70 are eligible for this scheme. Atal Pension Yojana is another social security programme for all the citizens of the country. The subscribers of APY are entitled to a minimum monthly pension of rupees 1000 after the age of 60 depending upon the contributions made by subscriber after joining the scheme. Beti Padao Beti Bachao (BPBB) to address the declining sex ratio in the country, Prime Minister Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment (POSHAN) Abhiyan to address the nutritional security especially among the children, pregnant and lactating mothers and adolescent girls, PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, (PMGKAY) Primeminister scholarship scheme (PMSS) that has enabled children from poor families to study in top professional colleges of the country; all have a positive impact all over the country.
Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy as about fifty percent of the population is dependent upon this sector directly or indirectly. A lot of attention is being paid to agriculture and allied sectors which have revolutionized farming in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started many programmes for the welfare of farm and farming community. One such of his measure aimed at doubling the income of farmers by the year 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also gave a seven point strategy for doubling farmer’s income and for that many programmes have been started. PM Kisan Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) focuses on ‘per drop, more crop’. Every single drop of water matters. Besides focusing on big irrigation projects, we the government is also increasing the efficiency of already existing irrigation projects by plugging leakages, reducing conveyance losses, desilting of canals etc. This would ensure that a larger area is put under irrigation. Rainfed regions which constitute of more than fifty per cent of the arable land are being targeted to increase their productivity. Besides watershed management, micro irrigation, constructing check dams and farm ponds are taken up extensively. Seed play an important part in raising yields. Good quality seeds not only give us good yields but also protect the crop from many diseases. The government has also started many initiatives for quality seed production. The sub-mission on seed and planting material under NMAET also emphasize on providing good quality seed and planting material to the farmers. The country faces a problem of ware housing and proper storage facilities. The country need storage facility for more than 60 million metric tonnes but the storage capacity is only for 30 million tonnes. As a result of this huge amount of food grains get wasted. Larger investments in ware housing and storage structure at the village/Panchayat level are being made. Presently there is a very low level of food processing and value addition in the country.
The value addition in the country ranges from 5 to 20 per cent. Value addition facilities are also being strengthened through food grain storage infrastructure, cool chain systems for perishables, post harvest processing and marketing facilities. For marketing of produce, a national farm market, an electronic National Agricultural Marketing (e-NAM) has been created connecting about 585 markets all across the country, where farmers can sell and purchase the produce online in and from any corner of the country. A new crop insurance scheme to mitigate risks at affordable cost has also been introduced. The government has now launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, (PMKISAN) comes with a financial support of rupees 6000 annually in three installment of rupees 2000 each to every faming household. Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme, PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth (PM PRANAM), Farmers mobilization through Collective associations like Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs), Parampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) promotes organic farming in the country, Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) to promote natural ways of farming so that the cost of cultivation can be reduced, Mission For Integrated Development of Horticulture MIDH, Farm mechanization through agriculture drones and machinery, Agri start ups and agri preneurship have now made the farmers to realize that farming is still a noble and remunerative enterprise.
These schemes have instilled a sense of inclusiveness and empowerment amongst all. Hon’ble Primeminister of the country Sh. Narendra Modi while interacting with Ms. Balbir Kour Sarpanch of Rangpur in Arnia on the last day of the previous month also focused on different welfare schemes of the government and how to create awareness and attaining saturation of these schemes. Hon’ble PM also suggested Ms. Kour to reach out to neighboring ten villages to ensure that all the benefits reach the last person standing in the queue.
(The author can be reached at pkumar6674@gmail.com).