SEVEN FLAGSHIP SCHEMES WILL BE BJP’S POLL PLANK

The NDA government plans to finish implementing these schemes in all the villages of the country before the Lok Sabha elections.

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As part of the plan, the Narendra Modi government will implement these seven schemes in all villages before the Lok Sabha elections. “We have covered as many as 16,850 villages where the seven schemes have been implemented in total— this means that all the villagers there are now availing these seven schemes. There is complete coverage of these schemes in those villages,” said a senior BJP functionary.

The first phase of the programme, called the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (GSA), to reach out to the people through these seven schemes started from 14 April, the birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar. As many as 16,850 villages were covered till 5 May. The campaign also aims at promoting social harmony, spreading awareness about pro-poor initiatives of the government, reach out to the poor households and enroll them for these schemes.

“We now intend to reach out to 45,000 more villages, located in 115 districts, which have a population of more than 1,000, by 15 August, when the country will celebrate its Independence Day. And before the Lok Sabha elections, we will try to cover all the villages in the country,” he added.

The government had planned to cover 21,844 villages in the first phase, but because of the Assembly elections in Karnataka and panchayat elections in West Bengal, the campaign could not take off in these two states. These two states will be covered in the second phase.

“These seven flagship schemes touch the lives of the people. Instead of the people coming to the government, the latter will go to the people at their doorsteps with these schemes in order to win their hearts,” said the BJP official.

The GSA, he said, aims to take the government to the people so that people do not have to come to the government for availing these seven basic schemes. These schemes are related to providing power connection, LED bulbs, life and accident insurance, bank account and vaccination to newborn children and pregnant women.

During the first phase of GSA, more than 5 lakh households got power connections, while more than 25 lakh LED bulbs were distributed in the covered villages. The first phase, he said, was a success due to the active participation of ministers, MPs, representatives of local bodies and officials of both state and Central governments.