Ultimate goal of NDA government to empower villages, poor: Rajnath Singh

Vijayawada: The NDA government is concentrating on improving rural economy and the overall condition of poor people, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday as he termed 'gram swarajya', or village self-rule, as the ultimate goal of the Narendra Modi-led dispensation.

"Empowerment of villages as well as the poor in the country is the primary objective of the NDA government. Seventy-five per cent of our population is still residing in villages and unless we strengthen these people economically, the overall growth of the national economy cannot be achieved as expected. The ultimate goal of the NDA government is to achieve 'gram swarajya'," Singh said.

Singh inaugurated the Vijayawada chapter of 'Swarna Bharat Trust' (SBT) which is run by Deepa Venkat, daughter of Union minister and senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu. The first chapter of SBT is at Venkatachalam in Nellore district.

On the occasion, Singh listed out various welfare schemes launched by the Modi government for the development of villages and upliftment of the poor.

"Though many developed countries faced recession (in 2008), India withstood it only due to strong economic base of our villages," he said.

Like now, the NDA government in its previous rule had underscored the importance of rural economy and had introduced many schemes, the minister said.

He said the best scheme launched by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was the 'Pradhana Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana', which envisaged to connect villages by all-weather roads. "Widening of national highways into four lanes has improved the connectivity to rural areas," he added.

Singh said the PM's ambitious 'Jan Dhan Yojana' has allowed the poor to open bank accounts with zero balance and with an overdraft facility.

"Deposits to the tune of Rs 26,891 crore came into the banking system due to 'Jan Dhan Yojana'. The account-holders now directly receive their subsidies which eliminates the middlemen," Singh said. He said the poor are getting their LPG subsidy through banks thanks to the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme.