Bonds forged in times of distress are often timeless and the same applies to Narendra Modi and Jayapur. Soon after he was nominated to contest Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi, Narendra Modi learnt of a fire in the village and had called up & co-ordinated with officers for relief work.

After becoming the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi launched the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojanawhere MPs strive for holistic development of the village along with public participation.

I come to beseech Jayapur – adopt me. Teach me how to solve the problems of villages

After selecting Jayapur for the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, Narendra Modi opined that the people’s representative and people have to work together for the overall development of a village. Narendra Modi said that it is not MPs who are taking guardianship of the village under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, but villagers who were taking MPs under their wing, through this scheme. He stressed that a good public representative has a lot to learn from villagers, their wealth of experience and their insights on solving problems. He added that Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana does not mean infusing additional funds in a village, but ensuring that schemes are properly implemented, and the entire village participates in solving problems and ensuring development. Narendra Modi affirmed that he wished to remove the deficiencies that had prevented villages from progressing over the last 60 years.

Harnessing the Power of Collective Consciousness

In Jayapur, Narendra Modi stressed on the power of Janshakti and tremendous results it can deliver. The Prime Minister laid a lot of emphasis on generating social consciousness and making significant achievements through the collective will of the people. Every village should celebrate its birthday or its foundation day, and all should participate in this celebration, the Prime Minister said, adding that this is the best way to end casteism.

Can we decide that we will not allow Jayapur to become dirty; can we ensure children wash hands before eating, the Prime Minister asked the large gathering, asserting that these things did not require Government intervention. He said such positive social energy can help create a model village.

Narendra Modi also called for every family in Jayapur village to celebrate the birth of every girl child as a festival. The Prime Minister added that he had a lot of plans for Varanasi which he hoped to achieve through people`s power – Janshakti.

Days after he met & addressed people of Jayapur, they reciprocated by turning the birth of a girl child into a festive occasion and planting trees. The family said that they thought of celebrating birth of the girl child after hearing the Prime Minister in Jayapur.

Making our villages Adarsh PM Modi said that if one village developed as an Adarsh Gram, it would influence several others, and officers would also get an idea of how best to implement schemes. Espousing his vision for rural development, Narendra Modi said that we need to move from a supply driven system operated from capital cities towards a demand driven system according to the needs of the villages. Aspirations of people in rural areas are no less than that of people in urban areas and they need to be fulfilled. The Prime Minister also stressed on the importance of cleanliness and said it will go a long way in improving lives of the citizens.