New Delhi, June 28 (AHN) Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday directed officials to ensure that the annual provision of more than Rs 1.5 lakh for the rural employment schemes under Viksit Bharat – GRAM-G and MNREGA schemes reaches the panchayats properly and is utilised effectively to promote development in the villages across the country.

Kicking off the two-day National Rural Development Conference here, the minister said that the number of work days for labourers has been increased from 100 to 125 under MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), and the resolve is that no needy labourer should remain without work.

Addressing the officers, he said that merely formulating schemes is not sufficient and that ensuring last-mile delivery is the biggest responsibility. Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the minister said that “the government should not be seen only in files but in the lives of the people”, and this will happen only when every scheme’s benefit reaches the deserving beneficiary without any hassle, without any bribe and without wasting any time.

Chouhan highlighted the role of women under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission and said that till now crores of women have increased their income by joining self-help groups and lakhs of Lakhpati Didis have emerged. The target is to take this number to 6 crore.

He said that moving beyond papad-achar, rural women must be taken forward to food processing, agri-business, the service sector and digital platforms; only then can rural entrepreneurship truly become the backbone of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

The minister said the conference on the development of villages, being attended by officials and rural development ministers of both the Centre and States, clearly stated is a very thoughtfully designed strategy connected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

On the inaugural day, the focus of the conference was kept on scheme implementation, progress review and reform suggestions. Detailed sessions were organised in different halls on Viksit Bharat – Gram (VB - GRAM - G), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin), National Rural Livelihoods Mission and Rural Skills (NRLM & Skills), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).

After in-depth deliberations by officers on scheme overview, state-wise progress review, presentation of best practices, use of technology and AI, and financial management, on the second day, political leadership will formally join this deliberation when Rural Development Ministers from all states and union territories participate in the plenary sessions.

Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development, Rohit Kansal, while highlighting details of the achievements of the department in the last 12 years, said that nearly 8 lakh kilometres of roads have been built in the country, 3 crore pucca houses have been prepared, 3 crore Lakhpati Didis have been created and 10 crore rural women have been linked to Self-Help Groups.

He made it clear that the department is now at an important juncture where, for the next decade, collective thinking is needed on the maintenance of these assets, saturation of schemes and further increasing the ‘Ease of Living’ of the countrymen.