Jharkhand's Bokaro could become model district of development: Official

Ranchi: Jharkhand’s Bokaro has the potential to become a model district of development for the country, a senior official said.

Officials from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had recently visited Bokaro and Ramgarh for evaluation as part of the ‘Vikasit Bharat’ initiative.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged off the ‘Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ from Jharkhand’s Khunti district on November 15. The nationwide outreach initiative is aimed at ensuring that the government's welfare measures reach the intended beneficiaries.

“Jharkhand’s Bokaro could become a model district of development for the country... where we found better implementation of central schemes as well as distribution,” said Shambhu Nath Choudhary, Additional Director General (ADG) in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Choudhary evaluated the distribution of benefits under welfare schemes including sanitation facilities, essential financial services, electricity connections, access to LPG cylinders, housing for the poor, food security, reliable healthcare and clean drinking water.

“We stayed in Bokaro for over eight hours and saw the developmental activities in Peterwar, Kasmar and Gomia blocks,” he said.

Choudhary said 100 acres of barren land in Peterwar is being turned into agri-farming with mango, guava trees and other vegetable crops grown by women self-help groups.

Work on 60 acres of land has already been completed.

“In Gomia, we saw 42 hutments with two-room set, one-kitchen, toilet and electricity connection provided mainly to the extremely poor Pasi community under the PM Awas Yojana,” he said.

Bokaro has 92 ‘Amrit Sarovars’ (water bodies) against the Centre’s requirement of 75 such sarovars in each district, he added.

As of December 7, 2023, the ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ has reached over 36,000 Gram Panchayats and witnessed participation of over 1 crore citizens, an official release said.