Prime Minister Narendra Modi will turn 72 on Saturday, September 17, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has earmarked several events to celebrate PM’s birthday. BJP national president JP Nadda has passed instructions to all the party workers and leaders to celebrate it as "Seva Pakhwara", according to news agency ANI.


"Seva Pakhwara" will be celebrated from September 17 till the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, on October 2. The party is also making a strategy for the promotion of the book "Modi @20 Sapne Hue Sakaar".


ALSO READ: Fitch Slashes India's FY23 GDP Growth Forecast To 7 Per Cent From 7.8 Per Cent (abplive.com)


Last year, BJP aimed to make PM Modi's birthday historic by setting up record for the maximum number of COVID-19 vaccine inoculations on the day.


Sworn in as the Prime Minister of the country for the second consecutive term on May 2019, PM Modi has always believed in an inclusive, development-oriented and corruption-free government for which he gave the call 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'.


Since becoming the Prime Minister for the first time in 2014, the government under PM Modi has introduced several welfare schemes for the people of the country. Here's a brief look at some of them and their benefits.


Jan Dhan Yojana


The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched by the Centre in 2014 as part of a national mission for financial inclusion. PMJDY encompasses an integrated approach to bring about comprehensive financial inclusion of all the households in the country. The scheme envisages universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household, financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and pension facility. Deposits in bank accounts opened under the Jan Dhan scheme, launched about seven and half years ago by the government crossed the Rs 1.5 lakh crore mark in January 2022.


Aadhaar


Aadhaar, a key reform step initiated by the UPA regime and followed by the NDA has been one of the key initiatives for financial inclusion given its significance as a unique identification tool necessary to manage rollout of various government schemes and financial innovation in a country of 120 crore population.


Swachh Bharat


On 2nd October 2014, Swachh Bharat Mission was launched throughout the length and breadth of the country as a national movement. The campaign aims to achieve the vision of a 'Clean India'. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is the most significant cleanliness campaign by the government.


Make in India


The Make in India initiative was launched in September 2014 as part of a wider set of nation-building initiatives. Devised to transform India into a global design and manufacturing hub, Make in India was a timely response to a critical situation when India’s growth level has fallen to the lowest level in a decade.  It represents a comprehensive and unprecedented overhaul of outdated processes and policies.


Ayushman Bharat


Ayushman Bharat Yojana or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana is a flagship scheme of the Modi government which was launched to provide proper healthcare to all poor citizens. Launched as part of National Health Policy 2017, in order to achieve the vision of Universal Health Coverage, the initiative also focused on Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) to provide financial protection to 10.74 crore poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational categories of urban workers’ families.


Mann Ki Baat


The first broadcast on October 3, 2014, Mann Ki Baat is a radio programme in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses citizens on various issues and ideas pertaining to national importance. At the time of the Covid-19 outbreak, Modi connected with the masses through the platform and succeeded in uniting the country in its battle against Covid.


Atmanirbhar Bharat


The first popular use of the phrase in Hindi was Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. It is the vision of the Prime Minister of making India a self-reliant nation.   


Digital India: In July 2015, the ‘Digital India’ initiative was launched to improve online infrastructure and increase internet accessibility among citizens (for example, linking rural areas to high-speed internet networks); thereby, empowering the country to become more digitally advanced.


Beti Bachao: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was launched by the Prime Minister on 22nd January, 2015 to address the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and related issues of women empowerment over a life-cycle continuum. The goal of the programme is to address the issue of decline in child sex ratio in critical districts through an awareness campaign as well as multi-sectoral interventions, which include registration of pregnancies in the first trimester, increased institutional deliveries, and prohibition of sex-determination.


Namami Gange: Namami Gange is an Integrated Conservation Mission launched in June 2014 with budget outlay of Rs 20,000 Crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.


There are several other key initiatives such as goods and services taxes, demonesitation amongs others that were aimed at improving the financial structure of the country ensuring growth.