PM directs welfare schemes' implementation in 6 months

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of six months to ensure the full saturation of his government's welfare schemes, official sources said on Saturday.

The government, they said, will launch a mega drive, Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, across all 2.7 lakh panchayats in the country to reach out to beneficiaries and enrol them.

The sources said the exercise will begin after Diwali next month and continue for several weeks. Specially fitted 'raths' will reach the beneficiaries across the country, they added.

In a recent Cabinet meeting, Modi exhorted his colleagues to work harder and ensure that deserving beneficiaries who have still not got the benefits of welfare schemes are reached out to faster, they said.

During a meeting with top officials, he underlined the need to expedite the saturation of welfare schemes.

"He said he wants all his schemes to reach full saturation in the next six months," a source said.

The drive will ensure the saturation of schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Grameen), National Rural Livelihood Mission, PM KISAN, Fasal Bima Yojana, Poshan Abhiyan, Ujjwala Yojana, Ayushman Bharat, Janaushadhi Yojana and the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, besides skill development schemes and the recently launched Vishwakarma Yojana, they said.

Modi has repeatedly stressed the need for saturation of welfare schemes, asserting that such an approach also rules out any discrimination and takes welfare initiatives to every deserving citizen.

The saturation drive comes as the ruling BJP gears up for the Lok Sabha polls, likely to be held in April-May next year, under the leadership of Modi who will seek a third straight term after leading the party to two back-to-back big wins in the general elections in 2014 and 2019.

Addressing a gathering at an event to mark the foundation day of the Scindia School in Gwalior, Modi said his government's emphasis was on welfare measures to curb poverty.

He told members of the audience to hand-hold at least one poverty-stricken family.

One should not rest until each and every poor person is covered under welfare schemes, including those for cooking gas, housing, bank accounts and health insurance, Modi said.

"It is necessary to rid India of poverty. Following this path, over 13.5 crore people have been lifted out of poverty. Following this path, India will remove poverty and become developed too," he said.