Modi government to hold series of media events to mark its fourth anniversary

NEW DELHI: As the Narendra Modi government completes four years in power at the Centre on May 26, it plans to mark the occasion with a publicity blitzkrieg.

While Prime Minister Modi will hold a rally at Cuttack in Odisha, Union ministers and BJP MPs will fan out across the country to highlight the government’s achievements.

BJP national president Amit Shah, who will hold a Presser in Delhi on May 26, has already started the publicity campaign.

Listing the achievements of the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan launched by the PM on April 14, Shah said on Monday that all residents of 16,850 villages in the country had received the benefits of seven flagship welfare schemes under the Abhiyan between April 14 and May 5.

He said that August 15 this year, 45,000 more villages would be covered under the aspirational districts programme implemented by the NITI Aayog.

All villages in the country would be fully covered under the seven welfare schemes—which include ensuring power connection, LPG connections to the poor, the opening of new bank accounts, immunisation of children and mothers and insurance schemes—by the time the Modi government seeks another mandate in 2019, Shah maintained.

“A total of 3,68,978 programmes were held in the villages during the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan in which 1,28,000 BJP functionaries participated. A total of 52,434 households in villages got electricity connections under the government’s Saubhagya scheme. More than 25.3 lakh LED bulbs were distributed in the villagers. Besides, 20,53,599 families were covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana,” Shah, flanked by Union Minister for Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar, told reporters at the BJP headquarters on Tuesday.

“We had identified 21,844 villages to cover during the campaign, but on account of elections in Karnataka and West Bengal, eventually 16,850 villages could be covered for 100 per cent implementation of seven flagship schemes… Not a single person has been left out of the schemes in these villages,” Shah added.

“The BJP functionaries and over 200 officials of the Central government camped for two nights in these villages. More than 16 lakh people were covered under the Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojaya, besides 26,10,506 under the Rs 2 lakh accident insurance programme,” Shah stated.

He added that 1,64,398 children below two years of age were immunised under Mission Indradhanush, besides 42,762 mothers.