PM Modi launches 'Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana'; pitches for development of villages

NEW DELHI: Come 2016, India may have around 800 model villages across the country, thanks to a new development programme launched by the government on Saturday.

Under the ‘Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’, each member of Parliament will take the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in one village and convert it into a model village by 2016 and do the same in two more villages by 2019. The Lok Sabha has 543 MPs and the Rajya Sabha 250, 12 of whom are nominated.

“The model of our development has been supply-driven. Schemes are made in Delhi and Lucknow and are pushed further. We want to change it from supply driven to demand driven,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, unveiling the guidelines of the scheme on the birth anniversary of social reformer Jayaprakash Narayan.