Prime Minister Narendra Modi is celebrating his 72nd birthday this Saturday. In the eight years since taking office in 2014, Modi has implemented a number of public welfare schemes. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the prime minister advocated for a self-sufficient India, or ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat.’ On his birthday, we’ll tell you about five public investment schemes launched by the Narendra Modi administration.
1. Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana: Launched in 2018, the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana is a central government scheme that provides 6,000-per-year income support in three equal instalments to all land-owning poor families. According to the scheme’s official website, a family is defined as a husband, wife, and minor children. It is the responsibility of the state government and union territory administration to identify farmer families who are eligible for the scheme. The funds will be transferred directly to these families’ bank accounts.
2. Jan Dhan Yojana: The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, which was launched in 2014, aims to provide every household with at least one basic banking account. A savings bank account is opened for a person under this scheme. There is no requirement to keep a minimum balance in these Jan Dhan accounts. Interest is earned on deposits made into this account. The account holder also receives a Rupay Debit card and a 1 lakh accidental insurance cover, which was later increased to 2 lakhs for those who opened the account after August 28, 2018. Direct bank transfers and other schemes are available to Jan Dhan accounts.
3. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana: In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched this scheme for girls. This programme is administered through post offices. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana allows parents to open accounts for their daughters under the age of ten. This scheme has an interest rate of 7.8 per cent.
4. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: In 2016, PM Modi launched this scheme in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. According to the official website, the scheme was implemented to make cooking fuels such as LPG available to rural and disadvantaged households that were previously using traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes, and so on. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has released a total of 9.49,69,244 connections as of September 1, 2022. Ujjwala Yojana 2.0, on the other hand, has released over 1.50 crore connections.
5. PM Mudra Yojana: PM Modi launched the scheme in 2015 to provide loans of up to ten lakh rupees to non-corporate, non-farm small and micro enterprises. Commercial banks, regional rural banks, small finance banks, microfinance institutions (MFI), and non-banking financial companies make the loans. Borrowers can approach any of the lending institutions mentioned above or apply online at www.udyamimitra.in.
