Melinda and Bill Gates call on the Prime Minister

Published By : Admin | September 19, 2014 | 18:53 IST
"Express appreciation for Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana"
"Applaud PM's focus on sanitation"
"प्रधानमंत्री जन-धन योजना की प्रशंसा की"
"स्‍वच्‍छता पर प्रधानमंत्री के जोर को सराहा"

The famous American philanthropist Mr. Bill Gates called on the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today. He was accompanied by Mrs. Melinda Gates.

Mr. Bill Gates praised the Prime Minister`s emphasis on community sanitation initiatives, and in particular, applauded the Prime Minister`s focus on sanitation as a critical driver of child health, and a prominent factor in the safety and dignity of women and girls.

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The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana also came up for discussion, with Bill and Melinda Gates appreciating the Prime Minister`s prioritization of financial inclusion, and expressing support for his vision for access to financial services for all.

Mr. Bill Gates also appreciated India`s efforts in introducing four critical new vaccines in its Universal Immunization Programme. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation expressed keenness to continue its partnership with India in this area.

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The Prime Minister praised the spirit of philanthropy and public good, with which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been working. He appreciated the Foundation`s efforts in healthcare in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and discussed with them how these efforts could be integrated with the existing programmes of the Government. Bill and Melinda Gates also appreciated the improvement in institutional delivery by involving public and private sector health facilities in the State of Gujarat. 

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The Prime Minister shared with Bill and Melinda Gates, his ideas for the innovative use of technology for waste water management to irrigate peri-urban land and encourage organic farming.

Creating awareness about nutrition among adolescent girls was also discussed.

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Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the 53rd meeting of PRAGATI, the ICT-enabled, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation, at Seva Teerth earlier today.

During the meeting, Prime Minister reviewed six key infrastructure projects across the Railway, Road and Power sectors, spanning nine States with a cumulative cost of more than ₹30,000 crore. The projects, significant for strengthening connectivity, supporting industrial and economic activity and improving public services, were reviewed with particular emphasis on adherence to timelines, inter-agency coordination, resolution of pending issues and expeditious completion.

Prime Minister emphasised that delays in infrastructure projects have consequences beyond cost escalation, as they also postpone the benefits intended for citizens, businesses and the economy. He said that infrastructure projects should be viewed and monitored as an integrated whole, rather than as isolated sections, stretches or packages. He noted that progress in individual packages should ultimately translate into timely completion and operationalisation of the entire project. Ministries and States were therefore asked to adopt an end-to-end approach, and address critical gaps that could delay the overall commissioning and delivery of benefits. He called for fostering a proactive work culture across Ministries and State Governments, with greater ownership at every level of project implementation.

Prime Minister stressed the need to explore common utility corridors for infrastructure services, wherever feasible, particularly while planning major transport and infrastructure projects. He called upon Ministries and States to examine such integrated approaches at the planning stage itself, keeping in view their technical and economic feasibility.

Prime Minister said that speed of execution must be accompanied by uncompromising quality. He called upon Ministries, States and implementing agencies to adopt modern technologies and strengthen quality assurance and supervision at every stage.

While reviewing AgriStack under the Digital Agriculture Mission, Prime Minister emphasised the need to leverage the latest digital technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, to derive greater value from agricultural data. He stressed that the data ecosystem should be effectively utilised across the agricultural value chain, from input planning to processing, enabling more informed interventions, better targeting and data-driven decision-making. He appreciated the efforts of the States and the Central Government in building the AgriStack ecosystem and called for further strengthening its use for delivering better outcomes for farmers.

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