PM Modi Says Village-City Gap Has Narrowed Over 12 Years
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Seva Yatra participants that rural infrastructure has improved and the city-village gap has narrowed over the past 12 years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the distance between India's cities and its villages has shrunk considerably over the past 12 years, pointing to a marked improvement in rural infrastructure.
He was speaking during an interaction with participants of 'Seva Yatra', a motorcycle rally that is currently travelling from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Vadnagar in Gujarat. Mr. Modi said that since his government took office in 2014, women in the country have also become more self-reliant.
"Over the past 12 years, the gap between cities and villages in India has significantly narrowed. Today, infrastructure in villages has improved significantly," he told the riders.
The Prime Minister urged the participants to devote themselves to continuous reform and positive change in society, rather than to the politics of vote banks.
Two bike rallies were flagged off on September 17, Mr. Modi's 76th birthday — one from Vadnagar and the other from Varanasi — and both are scheduled to conclude on October 7. The twin journeys, running in opposite directions between the two towns, have been organised to mark 25 years of his public service.
Vadnagar, in Gujarat, is the Prime Minister's birthplace, while Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, has been his Lok Sabha constituency since 2014. The rallies are passing through towns, districts and villages with the aim of carrying the spirit of service to the grassroots.
Mr. Modi said Vadnagar had given him the values that shaped his life, while Kashi, as Varanasi is known, added countless colours of service to those values. He expressed happiness that the participants were enriching the journey with the many colours of service.
The rallies are designed to bring together several dimensions of public engagement — service, outreach, youth participation, social welfare, cultural connection and community mobilisation — and carry them from one grassroots location to another. On Thursday, the Prime Minister interacted with those taking part in the rally travelling from Vadnagar to Varanasi.