PM Narendra Modi asks BJP-ruled states to boost coverage of government schemes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took stock of his government’s flagship schemes and asked BJP chief ministers and deputy chief ministers to increase their coverage.

Though a party leader said the review was not aimed at 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the meeting is in line with the BJP’s renewed thrust on welfarism, which paid off handsomely in Assembly elections in states like Uttar Pradesh and Assam.

Modi reviewed the coverage of 13 BJP schemes across states ruled by the party.

The meeting was attended by 12 BJP chief ministers, including Karnataka’s Basavaraj Bommai, as well as the six deputy chief ministers in states where it is in coalition.

BJP president JP Nadda, national general secretaries Bhupendra Yadav and BL Santhosh and convenor of the party’s Good Governance and Policy Research departments Vinay Sahasrabuddhe were at the meeting.

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After the meeting, Sahasrabuddhe told DH that the meeting was not specifically linked to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but looked at a larger coverage of BJP’s key schemes.

“The meeting was a follow-up to a similar one we had in Varanasi earlier, and the idea is to look at ways of increasing the coverage of some of the key government-sponsored schemes,” Sahasrabuddhe told DH.

A key BJP leader, present at the meeting, said that the PM reviewed over a dozen government schemes, which have been around for a while, and took stock of over two dozen schemes launched recently.

“Some of the schemes he spoke about were Ayushman Bharat, Jal Jeevan Mission and Gati Shakti scheme,” the leader said.

The 100% target for the Jal Jeevan scheme is nearing fruition in several states, while Modi was keen on extending targets for the water conservation scheme, Amrit Sarovar, under which the party plans to conserve 75 water bodies in each district in the country.

Modi, sources also said, reviewed targets and numbers prepared by party members for each state.

A release by the BJP stated that Modi emphasised on better implementation of some of the key schemes such as Har Ghar Jal, Svamitva, DBT implementation, Government eMarketplace among others.

“Talking about rural areas, he spoke about the significance of Gobardhan and the need to further popularise the initiative. He underlined the positive impact of nano-fertilisers on crop productivity and spoke about increasing its usage,” the release said.