The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated a smart model village pilot project today (July 2, 2016) at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that in the last nearly four years of his Presidency this was the first time that he was having the privilege of interacting with Sarpanches and village level functionaries in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Since assuming office, he had been emphasizing on the opening of the Rashtrapati Bhavan to the people. However, today he felt that Rashtrapati Bhavan had been truly opened to the public since the village representatives were present there. He said that it is only the representatives of the villages who can transform this country which has more than six lakh villages. Our progress and development can be achieved at the desirable speed only in partnership with these decision makers in the villages. We also need to empower our women and youth. He expressed confidence that this initiative would not remain confined to these five villages but would spread to the entire country.

The President said that this is a landmark initiative for us as we seek to replicate the experience in transforming the President’s Estate into a smart model township, in five selected villages in Haryana. He complimented and thanked all stakeholders – central ministries, the government of Haryana including district/ village level administration and local bodies and governmental and other organizations – who are partnering with Rashtrapati Bhavan in this effort.

The five villages which will be developed into the smart villages under this pilot project are Dhaula, Alipur, Harichandpur and Taj Nagar from Gurgaon district and Rojka Meo from Mewat district of Haryana. The President had announced this pilot project on the occasion of inauguration of the Intelligent Operations Centre (IOC) in Rashtrapati Bhavan and launching of a Mobile App ‘Monitor’ for transformation ofPresident’s Estate into a smart township onMay 19, 2016.

Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were Chief Minister of Haryana, Shri Manohar Lal, Union Minister for Rural Development, Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh, Minster of Development and Panchayat, Government of Haryana, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Chief Secretary of Haryana, other senior officers of Government of Haryana and Union Government, MLAs of Haryana, community and panchayat leaders and other peoples representatives/stakeholders.

This release issued at 1530 hrs.