In a grand start, the first full day of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra reached more than one lakh people across 259 Gram Panchayats in the country. The campaign was flagged off by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on November 15, 2023, at Khunti, Jharkhand with multiple vans launched simultaneously from various locations with significant tribal population across the country.
A dynamic melange of events and initiatives unfolded on the first day of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, weaving together stories of empowerment and collective engagement toward a shared vision of national development.
The aim of the Yatra is to generate awareness regarding the Central government’s welfare schemes and policies and achieve 100% saturation of flagship government schemes. In keeping in line with this objective, over 21000 people registered for the PM Ujjwala Yojana on the very first day of the Yatra.
Over 1200 My Bharat volunteers were registered along with more than 80,000 people who took the Vikasit Bharat pledge The Yatra also spotlighted remarkable individuals—3,448 women, 1,475 students, 495 local artists, and 298 sports personalities—recognizing their efforts and acknowledging them as inspiring figures.
People thronged the VBSY IEC Vans and enthusiastically participated in the activities organized as well as availed of the on-spot services provided. More than 16,000 people participated in Health Camps organized with over 6,000 people screened for TB, and over 4500 for Sickle cell disease.
Drone demonstration becomes a big hit
The VBSY also presented a showcase on development in the agriculture field that can be leveraged by the farmers to increase their production and productivity. Over 120 drone demonstrations and Soil Health Card demonstrations were held, accompanied by an engaging interaction with farmers practicing Natural Farming.
The Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra also highlighted the milestones achieved in 100% saturation of government flagship schemes. 83 Gram Panchayats have 100% Ayushman Card saturation, 89 GPs with 100% JJM saturation, 97 GPs with 100% Jan Dhan saturation, and 124 GPs have achieved the Open Defecation Free + status.
Individual success stories were also weaved into the Yatra where over 200 beneficiaries presented “Meri Kahani Meri Zubani,” a testimony on transformation brought about by the government’s flagship schemes in their lives.
Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is the largest-ever outreach initiative of the Government of India. Planked on the vision of inclusive development, it has been a constant endeavour to ensure that the benefits of the government schemes reach all in every corner of the nation achieving 100% saturation. The Yatra marks a significant step in the achievement of this objective through outreach, information dissemination, and empowering citizens to become active stakeholders in the country’s development.
The data on ground level activities undertaken by the IEC vans, people’s participation is captured real time on a portal developed by the Digital India Corporation of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.