New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) As the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) celebrates ‘25 years of Seva’ under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stewardship, the grassroots change started taking shape two decades ago in Gujarat, and this transformation also impressed former President Dr Abdul Kalam beyond words.

Modi Story, a popular handle on X, shared the inspiring tale of 100 percent electrification of thousands of villages in Gujarat in a record 1,000 days, under then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi’s leadership.

The village electrification mission, which began during Narendra Modi’s tenure as Gujarat CM, continued after 2014, and more than 18,450 villages were electrified across the country under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY).

The DDUGJY, launched by PM Modi in 2014, worked to strengthen the electricity distribution system and, together with Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya), all the villages and hamlets across the country were electrified, a feat which couldn’t be achieved in seven decades of Independence.

“A total of 18374 villages were electrified under DDUGJY, and a total of 2.86 crore households were electrified under the aegis of Saubhagya,” an official report stated in 2023.

Today, rural households have access to round-the-clock power supply, but the grassroots transformation began more than two decades ago in Gujarat under a scheme named Jyotigram Yojana.

The Jyotigram scheme, which saw record laying of electricity lines and electric poles, connected entire stretches of villages in Gujarat with electricity.

This milestone under the Jyotigram Yojana caught the attention of then President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He had travelled to Gujarat, visited a Jyotigram village and dedicated the scheme to the nation.

The Modi Story, in a video, shares the landmark moment, as vividly recalled by Saurabh Patel, former Gujarat cabinet minister, of how Dr Kalam was thrilled and stunned by mass-scale electrification in a very short span of time.

He says Dr Kalam was curious and keen to see the transformation, so the then Gujarat CM, Narendra Modi, agreed and facilitated his visit to remote villages to see the change firsthand.

Recounting the final function to celebrate the unprecedented achievement, Saurabh Patel says in the Modi Story video, “Dr Kalam couldn’t believe it; he asked if he could visit them.”

“The Chief Minister readily agreed and arranged for his tour. Watching the changes on the ground, Dr Kalam was overwhelmed to see over 18,000 villages getting electrified in a record time,” he added.

Notably, the Jyotirangan Yojana, which spanned 1,000 days, set a record by installing 20 lakh electric poles, laying 1 lakh km of electric lines, and electrifying more than 18,000 villages, underscoring the importance of ‘public service (seva)’.

The movement to electrify villages began two decades ago and only firmed up after PM Modi took charge at the Centre; the 25 years of Seva (public service) seeks to celebrate this devotion and spirit.

–IANS

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