New Delhi, Jan 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that after assuming office in 2014, he has been continuously working towards serving rural India at every moment.

Addressing as gathering at New Delhi's Bharat Mandapam after inaugurating the Bharat Grameen Mahotsav 2025, PM Modi said, "At the beginning of the year 2025, this grand event of Grameen Bharat Mahotsav is introducing India's development journey. It is creating an identity. I congratulate NABARD and other colleagues for organizing this event."

Reflected on the challenges faced by the rural areas, PM Modi said, "I feel fortunate to have spent my childhood in a small town, which gave me firsthand experience of the challenges faced by rural areas. At the same time, it also helped me understand the vast potential that villages hold. Despite their hard work, villagers often struggle to access opportunities due to limited resources".

He also outlined the vision of his government to empower people in rural India. "Since 2014, I have been continuously working towards serving rural India every moment. Giving people in villages a dignified life is my government's priority. Our vision is to empower people in rural India, provide them with opportunities to move forward, prevent migration, and make their lives easier. To achieve this, we have launched a campaign guaranteeing basic facilities in every village," PM Modi said.

He also highlighted the achievements of his government in the last eleven years. "Clean drinking water is reaching every household in lakhs of villages. Today, people are getting better options for health services in more than 1.5 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs. With the help of digital technology, we have also connected the best doctors and hospitals in the country to the villages and have availed the benefit of telemedicine...For strengthening the rural economy, it is very important that economic policies are made keeping in mind every section of the village. I am happy that in the last 10 years, our government has made special policies and taken decisions for every section of the village. Just 2-3 days ago, the Cabinet approved the continuation of the PM Fasal Bima Yojana for one more year," PM Modi said.

"Apart from agriculture, there are many people in our village who work in different types of traditional arts and skills. They have made a huge contribution to the rural economy and local economy, but they too were neglected earlier. Now we are running PM Vishwakarma Yojana for them. This scheme is giving an opportunity to lakhs of Vishwakarma friends of the country to move forward," PM Modi added.

PM Modi also spoke of the government decision to approve the extension of a One-time Special Package on Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) beyond the NBS subsidy Rs 3,500 per tonne to ensure sustainable availability of DAP at affordable prices to the farmers. The tentative budgetary requirement would be approximately up to Rs 3,850 crore.

"The price of DAP is increasing in the world, it is skyrocketing, but we decided that we will not let the burden fall on the farmers and have kept the price of DAP stable by increasing the subsidy. The intentions, policies and decisions of our government are filling rural India with new energy," the PM said.

Earlier, PM Modi inaugurated Grameen Bharat Mahotsav in 2025 and interacted with the artisans. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also present. PM Modi was also felicitated by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) chairperson Shaji KV.

The 6-day Mahotsav is being organised at Bharat Mandapam. The Mahotsav will be held from January 4 to 9 with the theme 'Building a Resilient Rural India for a Viksit Bharat 2047'.

(ANI)

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