NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today pitched for people’s involvement to bring about a change in rural areas as he interacted with over 200 youths working in these areas under a national scheme.
Modi invited comments and suggestions to further refine the Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellows (PMRDF) scheme and appreciated participants for working with dedication and devotion in rural and backward areas of the country, often withstanding peer and family pressures, an official statement said here.
After his interaction with 230 (PMRD) Fellows, he said people’s participation emerges as a common theme among the presentations given today, as well as from the responses which he has received. He stressed this can be the most important aspect of bringing about a “change”.
11 young participants presented brief account of their works in remote, rural, tribal and Left-Wing Extremism affected areas, on women empowerment, maternal and infant health-care, education, nutrition, livelihoods, Swachh Bharat, Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat, and people’s participation in governance, the statement said.
Later, in an interactive session with the Prime Minister, several participants shared their thoughts on themes such as development of the North-East, rural education, tribal development, organic farming and welfare of the disabled.
PMDRF is an initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) implemented in collaboration with state governments. It focuses on poverty alleviation and improving the lives of the population in backward and isolated regions of India. It was announced in September 2011 and inducted its first batch of Fellows in April 2012.
During the two-year fellowship, the Fellows work closely with the District Collector of Additional Central Assistance and Integrated Action Plan districts and strive to bridge the gap between people’s needs and the system’s provisions by reducing developmental and governance deficits.(agencies)
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