Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Government is working ceaselessly to bridge the gap between villages and cities. On the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day celebrations, addressing all the Gram Sabhas and Panchayati Raj Institutions of the country today from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, Panchayats are being made smart in this age of the digital revolution. Technology is being harnessed in the projects being undertaken by the Panchayats, he added.

Highlighting the importance of developing the social system, economy, and Panchayati Raj system in the villages of India to create a developed nation, the Prime Minister pointed out that the present Government is working tirelessly to create a robust system in place and expanding its scope, unlike the previous governments that discriminated with the Panchayats.

Throwing light on the lack of efforts made by the previous governments before 2014, the Prime Minister informed that the Finance Commission granted less than 70,000 crore rupees which was a paltry amount when one considers the scale of the country, but after 2014, this grant was increased to more than two lakh crore rupees.

He also mentioned that merely 6,000 Panchayat Bhawans were constructed before 2014, whereas the present Government constructed more than 30,000 Panchayat Bhawans in the last eight years.

He also informed that less than 70 Gram Panchayats were connected with optical fiber compared to more than two lakh Gram Panchayats that got optical fibre connectivity after the present Government came to power.

In this function, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone and inaugurated projects worth more than 17 thousand crores.

Prime Minister Modi virtually attended the housewarming ceremony of four lakh 11 thousand beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana at the function.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the integrated e-Gram Swaraj and GeM portal for public procurement at the panchayat level. The objective of this project is to enable Panchayats to market their goods and services through GeM.

The Prime Minister also launched the campaign “विकास की ओर साझे क़दम” “means Joint steps towards development”. Focused on inclusive development, the campaign is focused on extending the benefits of schemes to the last mile.

The Prime Minister also handed over around 35 lakh Swamitva Property Cards to the beneficiaries. With the handing over of these cards, about one crore 25 lakh property cards have been distributed under this scheme in the country.

Prime Minister Shri Modi laid the foundation stone and inaugurate various railway projects worth about two thousand 300 crore rupees. The Prime Minister also inaugurated the redevelopment of Gwalior station and flag off three trains.

In the programme, the Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of five projects of the Jal Jeevan Mission worth about seven thousand 853 crore rupees. Around 9.5 lakh families of more than four thousand villages will be benefitted from these schemes.

Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Central Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj Singh, several Union Ministers, and State government Ministers also participated in the programme.