The Gujarat government Tuesday launched the Vande Gujarat Vikas Yatra to showcase the development works done by the state government in the past two decades under the leadership of Narendra Modi first as the Chief Minister of the state and then as the Prime Minister.
“The development of 20 years and the trust of 20 years have become synonymous with each other and Gujarat is moving forward as the growth engine of the country,” CM Patel said addressing a public gathering from Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad before flagging off the yatra Tuesday. Similar functions were also held in all the districts of the state under the leadership of various ministers.
The CM said Gandhi and Sardar had got us Swaraaj whereas Narendrabhai (Modi) and Amitbhai (Shah) got us Suraaj. “Narendrabhai has given us a mantra of (also) inaugurating those public works, foundation stones of which we are laying,” he said.
He compared various parameters in various sectors like education, power, health, roads, tribal development, water, women and child development, tourism, industrial production, law and order, etc, between 2002 and 2022 to highlight the development done in the past 20 years.
“(People) Trusted us and we did development (works) and because we did it, people kept trusting us. And we are witnessing its result… We are going to start this Vande Gujarat Yatra to give account of the trust people put in us,” the CM added.
Under the initiative, the state government has prepared 82 Vande Gujarat Vikas Rath (chariots) that will travel through all the villages and cities of the state. The chariots are equipped with LED screens that will showcase the development Gujarat has witnessed in the last 20 years in the form of mini films.
In all, 2,500 public programmes will be held across the state under the initiative in which local authorities will dedicate, declare or lay foundation stones of more than 25,000 public works. Camps distributing benefits of various government schemes will also be organised at various places along with cultural events. Events such as essay competitions among school children, cleanliness campaigns at public places, health check-up camps, yoga shibir and tree plantation drives will also be held in cities and villages.