50 Crore Indians Escape Extreme Poverty In 12 Years, Say PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, 50 crore Indians have escaped extreme poverty over the past 12 years. Addressing the jawans on the occasion of Diwali in Bastar, Chhattisgarh yesterday, Prime Minister compared India’s welfare architecture over the past 12 years to a Diwali Rangoli where small, distinct lines come together to form a grand picture.

The Prime Minister detailed how Jan Dhan banking, PM Awas pucca homes, collateral-free Mudra loans, SVANidhi support for street vendors, Ayushman Bharat healthcare, free monthly rations, child education policies, Swachh Bharat, and Har Ghar Jal collectively ensured free medicine, free education, and a free kitchen while removing basic anxieties so families once trapped in generational poverty now inherit a stronger future. Prime Minister Modi said, the poor families whose entire lives used to be spent only in worry have now received the assurance of the government, and a new self-confidence has come into them.

Pointing out that this victory over poverty is deeply linked to the fight against Naxalism, which previously trapped lakhs of innocent citizens in deprivation by blocking schools, hospitals, medical stores, polio vaccinations, mobile towers, and industries while bombing railway tracks, the Prime Minister detailed the special development drive in Left-Wing Extremism-affected areas that built over 15,000 kilometres of roads, over 9,500 mobile towers, nearly 175 Eklavya schools, around 50 ITIs, 50 Skill Development Centres, and thousands of post offices, bank branches, and ATMs, alongside rehabilitating surrendered Naxals and bringing water, electricity, and roads to remote tribal villages for the first time under PM JANMAN.

Stating that the ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ campaign energized the fight against poverty and brought an end to Naxal violence alongside lifting 50 crore people out of extreme poverty, the Prime Minister cited the ongoing Bastar Olympics as a symbol of transformation in the region. Today in this very Bastar, the Bastar Olympics are taking place, and children are trying their hand at sports, not guns, remarked Shri Modi.