Lauding those connected to the development of rural India on National Panchayati Raj Day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the central government has made the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) a partner in the making of a new India.

In a tweet, Shah said that central schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin, Kisan Samman Nidhi, and Fasal Bima Yojana etc had given a new direction to rural development.

The NDA government had kept farmers and rural development at the centre of each of its policies and programmes, Shah said.

By providing roads and electricity to every village, houses to the roofless, toilets, and cooking gas to villagers, the government had included them in the nation's progress, the Home Minister added.

Shah said that the villages were the foundation of our heritage and in their development lay the development of India. The PRIs had played an important role in this regard, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with sarpanches across the country through videoconference at 11 am on Friday on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day.