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Gram panchayats to play key role in making India $5-trillion economy: CM
Use of technology and high-speed Internet in rural parts of Uttar Pradesh can help achieve the goal faster, says Yogi Adityanath
LUCKNOW Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said that gram panchayats would play a crucial role in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal to make India a $5-trillion economy and Uttar Pradesh a $1-trillion economy.
“The state needs only a little effort to achieve self-reliance of villages. There are about 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in India, of which over 58,000 (23%) are in UP,” he said while addressing the inaugural session of the two-day conference on ‘Smart Village Panchayat: Empowering Rural Communities; Leaving No One Behind’.
“Use of technology and high-speed Internet in the rural parts of the state can help achieve the goal faster and more smoothly. A smart village can be developed only if we have self-reliant villages,” stated the CM.
On UP’s strategy for increasing GDP, Adityanath said, “If we have to raise the GDP by 1%, Internet and Wi-Fi facilities in gram panchayats will have to be raised by 10% to progressively boost the GDP by 1.3%.”
In Uttar Pradesh, approximately 32-33% of rural areas have access to the Internet and Wi-Fi. He claimed that if this figure is raised to 80-85%, the GDP might rise by 7-8 %.
Adityanath stated that there were approximately 4,600 PHCs in the state while mentioning the most recent opening of a health ATM in Gorakhpur. He said about 55 types of medical tests could be conducted in less than five minutes using such health ATMs. “All gram panchayats will also have them,” said the CM.
“Before 2017, these centres lacked access to doctors. We connected these centres with Ayush and provided doctors for them.”
“But for specific disorders, people opt for specialised medical professionals and hence began the Arogya melas in 2020, held every Sunday with gynaecologists, physicians and other specialists. Around 3 to 4 lakh people attend these melas every week,” he added.
Over 24,000 gram panchayats in the state have their own secretariats and each panchayat now has an assistant. Additionally, BC Sakhis will be assigned to each gram panchayat in UP. Over 33,000 BC Sakhis have been posted so far, and they are all working admirably, he added.
Appreciating the work done by BC sakhis in gram panchayats, the CM said: “Transactions worth ₹5,500 crore have been made by them in a year and earned a net profit of ₹14.50 crore. One BC Sakhi has earned a net profit of ₹3 lakh in a year.”
The CM said encephalitis caused over 50,000 deaths in the state over the last 40 years. “Today, I’m delighted to report that there have been no more deaths due to this disease,” he remarked.
He also said that the land of gram panchayats could be used to make sites for cow shelters, natural farming, biofuel and solar energy. Union minister of rural development and panchayati raj Giriraj Singh and Union minister of state for panchayati raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil were also present at the event.
