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Viksit Bharat Ambassador Dialogue in Kashi: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Inspires Vision for India's Future

Published By : Admin | May 6, 2024 | 21:08 IST

On May 4th, the Rudraksh International Convention Centre hosted the Viksit Bharat Ambassador Dialogue, an event focused on the transformative potential of collective efforts to create a developed India by 2047. Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar led the dialogue, which drew over 1,200 distinguished individuals from Varanasi's diverse spectrum, including Padma awardees, artists, industrialists, professionals, and influencers. The event called for national progress and aimed to unite people for a common cause.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar passionately rallied the audience to embrace the role of a Viksit Bharat Ambassador, proclaiming, "Every individual has started walking towards Viksit Bharat. Everyone should do it. Those who come out of a negative mindset and think of India's bright future - I consider all of them Viksit Bharat Ambassadors..."

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also commended Sanatan Dharma and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Kashi's transformative facelift. He praised Sanatan Dharma for its blend of ancient practices and modern values, emphasizing its tradition of respect and inclusivity towards all sections of society.

He highlighted India's rapid development and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a global leader, comparing him to the legendary sage Vishwamitra. He noted India's growing stature in the world and its achievements in space exploration, such as reaching the Moon and Mars, while retaining traditional values amidst modern progress. Kashi exemplifies this balance, having undergone significant economic development, road infrastructure improvements, and rejuvenation of the Ganga ghats.

Following the event, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar convened with 30 influential local figures, cementing partnerships for collective action and advocacy towards Viksit Bharat's objectives.

Reflecting on Varanasi's rejuvenation, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar extolled the city's rich heritage and commendable transformation under Prime Minister Modi's leadership. He remarked, "Kashi is India's heritage... 10 years ago, people could not even fathom that Kashi could be so beautiful and accessible for people in such a short span of time."

Reflecting on the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar specifically lauded PM Modi's humility in acknowledging and honouring the labourers, recounting an incident where PM Modi washed the feet of workers and received a flower shower—an act that surprised and impressed everyone present.

"I was amazed by the gesture of PM Modi. Before addressing the devotees, he went to the shramiks, washed their feet, and got a flower shower done on them. The saints and sages present there were initially taken aback as it was they who were entitled to such treatment. But the Prime Minister re-wrote the rules and gave the workers their due. I was also awestruck over his conduct," Sri Sri Ravi Shankar remarked.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar emphasized PM Modi's efforts in strengthening India's civilizational values, spiritual beliefs, and cultural heritage, particularly recognizing his respect for traditional practices like honouring the Sengol.

"Nobody other than PM Modi cared to give respect to the Sengol. It was he who stood for the country's heritage and gave Sengol the respect it deserved," said Sri Sri.

He criticized attempts by the West to defame the Indian government due to India's rapid progress across various sectors.

The Vision of Viksit Bharat: 140 crore dreams, 1 purpose

The Viksit Bharat Ambassador movement aims to encourage citizens to take responsibility for contributing to India's development. VBA meet-ups and events are being organized in various parts of the country to achieve this goal. These events provide a platform for participants to engage in constructive discussions, exchange ideas, and explore practical strategies for contributing to the movement.

Join the movement on the NaMo App

https://www.narendramodi.in/ViksitBharatAmbassador

The NaMo App: Bridging the Gap

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's app, the NaMo App, is a digital bridge that empowers citizens to participate in the Viksit Bharat Ambassador movement. The NaMo App serves as a one-stop platform for individuals to:

Join the cause: Sign up and become a Viksit Bharat Ambassador and make 10 other people

Amplify Development Stories: Access updates, news, and resources related to the movement.

Create/Join Events: Create and discover local events, meet-ups, and volunteer opportunities.

Connect/Network: Find and interact with like-minded individuals who share the vision of a developed India.

The 'VBA Event' section in the 'Onground Tasks' tab of the 'Volunteer Module' of the NaMo App allows users to stay updated with the ongoing VBA events.

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Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the 50th meeting of PRAGATI - the ICT-enabled multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation - earlier today, marking a significant milestone in a decade-long journey of cooperative, outcome-driven governance under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The milestone underscores how technology-enabled leadership, real-time monitoring and sustained Centre-State collaboration have translated national priorities into measurable outcomes on the ground.

Review undertaken in 50th PRAGATI

During the meeting, Prime Minister reviewed five critical infrastructure projects across sectors, including Road, Railways, Power, Water Resources, and Coal. These projects span 5 States, with a cumulative cost of more than ₹40,000 crore.

During a review of PM SHRI scheme, Prime Minister emphasized that the PM SHRI scheme must become a national benchmark for holistic and future ready school education and said that implementation should be outcome oriented rather than infrastructure centric. He asked all the Chief Secretaries to closely monitor the PM SHRI scheme. He further emphasized that efforts must be made for making PM SHRI schools benchmark for other schools of state government. He also suggested that Senior officers of the government should undertake field visits to evaluate the performance of PM SHRI schools.

On this special occasion, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi described the milestone as a symbol of the deep transformation India has witnessed in the culture of governance over the last decade. Prime Minister underlined that when decisions are timely, coordination is effective, and accountability is fixed, the speed of government functioning naturally increases and its impact becomes visible directly in citizens’ lives.

Genesis of PRAGATI

Recalling the origin of the approach, the Prime Minister said that as Chief Minister of Gujarat he had launched the technology-enabled SWAGAT platform (State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology) to understand and resolve public grievances with discipline, transparency, and time-bound action.

Building on that experience, after assuming office at the Centre, he expanded the same spirit nationally through PRAGATI bringing large projects, major programmes and grievance redressal onto one integrated platform for review, resolution, and follow-up.

Scale and Impact

Prime Minister noted that over the years the PRAGATI led ecosystem has helped accelerate projects worth more than 85 lakh crore rupees and supported the on-ground implementation of major welfare programmes at scale.

Since 2014, 377 projects have been reviewed under PRAGATI, and across these projects, 2,958 out of 3,162 identified issues - i.e. around 94 percent - have been resolved, significantly reducing delays, cost overruns and coordination failures.

Prime Minister said that as India moves at a faster pace, the relevance of PRAGATI has grown further. He noted that PRAGATI is essential to sustain reform momentum and ensure delivery.

Unlocking Long-Pending Projects

Prime Minister said that since 2014, the government has worked to institutionalise delivery and accountability creating a system where work is pursued with consistent follow-up and completed within timelines and budgets. He said projects that were started earlier but left incomplete or forgotten have been revived and completed in national interest.

Several projects that had remained stalled for decades were completed or decisively unlocked after being taken up under the PRAGATI platform. These include the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge in Assam, first conceived in 1997; the Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link, where work began in 1995; the Navi Mumbai International Airport, conceptualised in 1997; the modernisation and expansion of the Bhilai Steel Plant, approved in 2007; and the Gadarwara and LARA Super Thermal Power Projects, sanctioned in 2008 and 2009 respectively. These outcomes demonstrate the impact of sustained high-level monitoring and inter-governmental coordination.

From silos to Team India

Prime Minister pointed out that projects do not fail due to lack of intent alone—many fail due to lack of coordination and silo-based functioning. He said PRAGATI has helped address this by bringing all stakeholders onto one platform, aligned to one shared outcome.

He described PRAGATI as an effective model of cooperative federalism, where the Centre and States work as one team, and ministries and departments look beyond silos to solve problems. Prime Minister said that since its inception, around 500 Secretaries of Government of India and Chief Secretaries of States have participated in PRAGATI meetings. He thanked them for their participation, commitment, and ground-level understanding, which has helped PRAGATI evolve from a review forum into a genuine problem-solving platform.

Prime Minister said that the government has ensured adequate resources for national priorities, with sustained investments across sectors. He called upon every Ministry and State to strengthen the entire chain from planning to execution, minimise delays from tendering to ground delivery.

Reform, Perform, Transform

On the occasion, the Prime Minister shared clear expectations for the next phase, outlining his vision of Reform, Perform and Transform saying “Reform to simplify, Perform to deliver, Transform to impact.”

He said Reform must mean moving from process to solutions, simplifying procedures and making systems more friendly for Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business.

He said Perform must mean to focus equally on time, cost, and quality. He added that outcome-driven governance has strengthened through PRAGATI and must now go deeper.

He further said that Transform must be measured by what citizens actually feel about timely services, faster grievance resolution, and improved ease of living.

PRAGATI and the journey to Viksit Bharat @ 2047

Prime Minister said Viksit Bharat @ 2047 is both a national resolve and a time-bound target, and PRAGATI is a powerful accelerator to achieve it. He encouraged States to institutionalise similar PRAGATI-like mechanisms especially for the social sector at the level of Chief Secretary.

To take PRAGATI to the next level, Prime Minister emphasised the use of technology in each and every phase of the project life cycle.

Prime Minister concluded by stating that PRAGATI@50 is not merely a milestone it is a commitment. PRAGATI must be strengthened further in the years ahead to ensure faster execution, higher quality, and measurable outcomes for citizens.

Presentation by Cabinet Secretary

On the occasion of the 50th PRAGATI milestone, the Cabinet Secretary made a brief presentation highlighting PRAGATI’s key achievements and outlining how it has reshaped India’s monitoring and coordination ecosystem, strengthening inter-ministerial and Centre-State follow-through, and reinforcing a culture of time-bound closure, which resulted in faster implementation of projects, improved last-mile delivery of Schemes and Programmes and quality resolution of public grievances.