'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra' reaches out to 10 crore people: Thakur

NEW DELHI: Government's mega outreach programme 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra' on Friday crossed a key milestone of connecting with 10 crore people of which 7.5 crore have taken a pledge to build a developed India by 2047, officials said.

"A record 10,00,00,000 Indians joined this journey of India's development story, which started from 15th November, in just 50 days," Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said.

Thakur said the faith reflected by these 10 crore will continue to grow, connect Indians with public welfare schemes, and contribute towards realising the vision of a developed India.

"Moving towards a developed India... 28 states, 50 days, 10 crore participation, One Goal -- Developed India," he said.

Earlier, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra said the yatra, flagged off on November 15 last year, was expected to reach out to more than 14 crore people by the time it concludes on January 25.

He said 3,500 outreach vans were on the ground taking information about the government's schemes to the citizens.

Chandra said health camps were turning out to be a major attraction during the yatra and more than 2.2 crore people have been screened at such events.

"Since its launch on November 15, 2023, over 7.5 crore individuals have pledged their 'Sankalp' -- a commitment to building a Viksit Bharat by 2047," an official statement said.

The number of participants in the yatra is higher than the population of countries like Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and South Africa, it said.

More than 7.5 lakh beneficiaries have availed the benefits of the PM SVANidhi scheme taking a step towards financial independence and more than 33 lakh new PM KISAN beneficiaries have been enrolled during the yatra.

More than 87,000 drone demonstrations have been held during the yatra to showcase technological assistance to the farmers.