PM Modi reviews progress on schemes based on announcements in his I-Day speech

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level review meeting on Tuesday to review the progress on schemes that were announced by him on Independence Day. With a special focus on welfare projects for women, PM Modi had announced making 2 crore Lakhpati 'didis' that is making 2 crore women engaged in self-help groups (SHGs) or Anganwadis Lakhpatis and empowering 15,000 women SHGs.

During the meeting, he took stock of the various livelihood interventions planned to achieve this target. In his Independence Day speech, the Prime Minister announced the Centre's plan of equipping 15,000 women SHGs with drones for agriculture and related purposes. PM Modi was given an overview of the plans to implement this, ranging from training of Women SHGs to monitoring activity.

The Prime Minister had also spoken about taking the number of Jan Aushadhi Stores in India to 25,000 from 10,000 currently to increase the reach of affordable medicines. In Tuesday's meeting, PM Modi reviewed the implementation strategy for this expansion. Earlier this month, PM Modi chaired another meeting to review the progress of schemes including ensuring affordable credit for poor and middle-class housing.

Also in his speech, the Prime Minister mentioned ensuring solar power for households and the meeting reviewed preparations to execute the scheme. The Prime Minister announced on August 15 that the government is coming up with a new scheme that will benefit families living in rented houses in the cities.

"The weaker sections who live in the cities face a lot of problems. Middle-class families are dreaming of buying their own houses. We are coming up with a new scheme in the coming years that will benefit those families that live in cities but are living in rented houses, or slums, or chawls and unauthorized colonies. If they want to build their own houses, we will assist them with relief in interest rates and loans from banks that will help them save lakhs of rupees," he said.

"If the income tax bracket for my middle-class families is raised from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 7 lakh, it benefits the salaried class, the middle class the most. Internet data was very expensive before 2014. Now we have the world's cheapest internet data. Every family's money is being saved," he added. The Prime Minister had said that India's prosperity and heritage are turning into opportunities for the world today. "Today India is becoming the voice of the Global South.

With India's participation in the global economy and the global supply chain and with the place that India has earned for itself, I can say with full confidence that the current scenario in India today has brought a guarantee of stability in the world. There are no 'ifs' or 'buts' now in our minds, or in the minds of my 140 crore family members, or in the minds of the world. There is complete trust," he said.