Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked District Collectors across India to prepare a vision document for their districts by August 15 to reflect 10-15 objectives which should be achieved by 2022, the 75th anniversary of country's Independence.
Addressing the district administrative heads across the country through video-conferencing on the theme "New India - Manthan", Modi asked them to decide where they must see their districts in 2022 in terms of removal of deficiencies and improvement in services, an official release said.
Noting the government is asking each individual, each family and each organisation to aim for certain goals which they should accomplish by 2022, he asked the Collectors of 100 most backward districts to work in a mission mode and listen carefully to the poor who approach them with their grievances.
The first-of-its-kind interaction with the Collectors was held on 75th anniversary of the Quit India Movement with the aim of catalysing the "manthan" at the grassroots level.
According to the statement, Modi asked the Collectors to seek help from colleagues, intellectuals of the district, and students of schools and colleges, to prepare a vision, or resolution document for their district before August 15.
He said August 9 is intrinsically linked with the mantra of "Sankalp se Siddhi - Achievement through Resolve" and the date symbolises the willpower and ambition of the youth.
Citing how senior leaders of the freedom movement were arrested at the beginning of the Quit India Movement but youth across the country successfully carried the movement forward, he said Collectors were not only representatives of the districts but also of the youth.
"When youth assume a leadership role, goals are sure to be achieved," Modi said adding that Collectors were fortunate as they have been given the opportunity to dedicate themselves to the nation.
The Prime Minister noted that some districts have always lagged in basic services such as electricity, water, education and when socio-economic conditions improve, it would give a big boost to the overall development parameters of the country.
Practices where good results have been achieved in districts should be replicated and scaled up, he said, adding that as he is doing the manthan with the collectors, they can do the same in the districts.
Noting many schemes fail to have the desired impact many times just because people are not aware about them, he asked the Collectors to make people aware about the benefit of initiatives such as LED bulbs and BHIM App. He said that Clean India Campaign was dependent on a responsive administration and awareness among people and the real change can only come through public participation.
Urging the Collectors to go out in the field more to understand ground realities, he said that the more a Collector visits the field, "the more active he will be on files".
