Road ahead is long, but we have determination in heart: Modi to Indian diaspora in Sweden

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed members of the Indian community in Sweden. Talking about the vision of his government, the Prime Minister said that the road ahead is long but “we have our destination in sight and determination in heart”.

Reaching out to the Indian diaspora in Sweden, the Prime Minister said that India did not have just one Ambassador in the country. He said, “We have one embassy in Sweden but we have more than one ambassador. Each one of you is our ambassador.”

PM @narendramodi addresses Indian Community in Stockholm, Sweden pic.twitter.com/G29PO71YAs

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He further talked about the various schemes launched by the BJP-led NDA government in India, saying “empowerment is the new tool”. Referring to social welfare, he said that the government had implemented a model called JAM.

“For social welfare we have JAM – Jan Dhan Yojana for opening bank accounts of the poor, then we have Aadhaar, and them Mobile; and combining all three, we have implemented direct benefit transfer, which takes money directly to those who are in need of help,” said PM Modi.

Talking about the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, the Prime Minister said that over 3.6 crore gas connections had been given under the scheme while earlier people had to request for even getting their LPG cylinders re-filled in black.

He further said that his government had even announced the launch of world’s biggest scheme – Ayushman Bharat, pointing that one stage of it has even been launched. He said that there were two major parts of the scheme – to spread a web of health centres across India and to benefit those living in extreme poverty.

Prime Minister Modi also invoked the achievements of pugilist MC Mary Kom and shuttler Saina Nehwal at the Commonwealth Games in Australia earlier in April while addressing the Indian diaspora.

Extolling the thought of India, Modi, addressing a gathering of around 2,000 people of Indian origin at the Stockholm University here, said: "The achievements of Mary Kom and Saina Nehwal make our hearts swell in pride."