New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday interacted with participants of the ‘Viksit Vibrant Village’ programme, that saw a participation of over 400 youths from across 250 districts of the country.
The ‘Viksit Vibrant Village’ programme, implemented through MY Bharat, has been conceptualised to realise the Prime Minister’s vision of treating India’s border villages as the first villages of the nation and making them active partners in the journey towards ‘Viksit Bharat’.
During her interaction with PM Modi, law student Nikita, who resides in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, highlighted that it is a big achievement for a woman to visit the border village of Changoo in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district, from the faraway union territory.
She expressed happiness over the opportunity and fondly shared how the villagers took great care of her just like her own family members.
When asked by the Prime Minister whether she got the opportunity to meet women panchayat heads in the areas that she visited in Changoo, Nikita replied that she indeed got the opportunity and that women Pradhans there were involved in all kinds of work including farming, managing administration as well as households.”
PM Modi suggested the youngster to get on video call with the villagers and include her family as well, while jokingly adding : “4G (network) must have reached there too.”
While mentioning that “solo travelling is a way of discovering the world while discovering yourself”, the Prime Minister said: “You all went (to the villages) solo but while returning you all must have become a family.”
“You have undertaken the journey alone which is a symbol of increasing self-esteem of India’s daughters. Our effort is to ensure that each of the youth and daughter of the country can march ahead with this same confidence,” he added.
Another participant Sunil Kumar Kela hails from a border village in Rajasthan.
PM Modi asked Kela about his experienced during his visit to Himachal Pradesh’s Dhar Chango Uperla village.
He replied: “Love for the country and courage among the people was the same there as is witnessed in Rajasthan. Secondly, just like in Rajasthan, villagers there were very down to earth and treated us with warmth and affection.”
Kela said that he experienced a huge change in the weather, from “50 degree Celsius in Rajasthan to zero degrees Celsius in Himachal.”
When the Prime Minister asked about the changes he discovered after the visit, Kela said the roads in the border village, despite being in a hilly terrain, were better than those in Rajasthan.
“In the village people utilised electricity generated from solar plates, which has been made possible due to ‘PM Surya Ghar Yojana’,” he added.
PM Modi said that the youth of all places think alike, whether they belong from border villages of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh or north east.
“Residents of such villages may geographically appear to be distant but emotionally they are very much connected. It is with this thought that we made the border villages as the country’s first village. Otherwise, as you all may have experienced, these villages were left behind after independence as the last village of the nation,” he added.
“Those who were last in priority earlier, are now the first,” the Prime Minister asserted.
21-year-old Sayontika from Andaman and Nicobar Island said that the altitude change was huge for her while visiting Ladakh’s Man Village.
She said that climate change initially took a toll on her health and expressed gratitude to the ITBP batallion, including its doctors, for prioritizing citizens over their own soldiers.
She said that she was pleasantly surprised to avail UPI facility in the border village.
(IANS)
