Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, 31 May, that India's "borders were much safer now, compared to what it was before 2014," at the 'Garib Kalyan Sammelan' event in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla.
The programme was held to commemorate the completion of 8 years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre on 30 May.
Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Jai Ram Thakur and Union Minister Anurag Thakur were present at the programme, which was underway at Shimla's Ridge Maidan. Chief ministers of all the states attended it virtually.
Speaking at the event, PM Modi said that he still considered himself a "sevak" of 130 crore people rather than a prime minister.
"In the past 8 years, I have not seen myself as PM even once. Only when I'm required to sign documents do I have the responsibility of PM. However, once it's done, I'm no longer a PM. I'm only a Pradhan Sevak of 130 crore people, who are everything in my life," he said while addressing the huge crowd gathered at the maidan.
PM Modi Releases 11th Installment of PM Kisan Scheme
The prime minister also said that people across the world were speaking about Indian schemes now. "Prior to 2014, there were discussions about government schemes not being fulfilled. There were scams and nepotism. But now, people all over the world are talking about the benefits that the Indian government has provided to the people through its schemes. Even the World Bank is talking about India's Ease of Doing Business policies," he said.
An official press release from the Prime Minister's Office said that the "sammelan conceptualised elected public representatives across the country directly interacting with the public in an endeavour to get feedback about the various welfare programmes being run by the government."
During the event, PM Modi directly interacted with the beneficiaries of different programmes of nine ministries/departments of the central government.
PM Modi also released the 11th installment of financial benefit under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme at the event. This enabled the transfer of around Rs 21,000 crore to more than 10 crore beneficiaries.
On Monday, the prime minister announced that children who lost both their parents or guardians to COVID-19 would receive financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh upon turning 23 years of age, as part of the PM CARES for Children scheme.
While these children are in school, the government will give them a scholarship of Rs 20,000 and once they turn 18, it will provide them a monthly support of Rs 4,000.
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