In his address after inaugurating the two-day 'Smart Gram Panchayat National Workshop' organized here, the chief minister said, "To achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of Self-reliant India, we have to make its foundation i.e. villages self-reliant."

He said the prime minister has resolved to make India a USD 5 trillion economy. "To help in this, the Uttar Pradesh government has taken forward a comprehensive action plan to take the size of state's economy to USD 1 trillion in the next five years. But it will be meaningful only when our gram panchayats become self-reliant."

Adityanath said there are about 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country. Of these, more than 58,000 are in Uttar Pradesh.

The chief minister said apart from achieving the goal of self-reliance of gram panchayats with the use of technology, they can also be made smart. "High speed internet and Wi-Fi facility in Gram Panchayats will increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state by more than one per cent," he said.

Adityanath said 32 to 33 per cent rural area of ??the state is equipped with internet and Wi-Fi facility. "If it is raised to 85 per cent, the GDP of the state will increase by seven to eight per cent," he added.

Panchayat representatives and officials from 20 states of the country, village heads and officers of various gram panchayats of the state are participating in this workshop. The chief minister also launched the e-learning platform developed by the Panchayati Raj Training Institute on the occasion.

Union Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj Singh said that with the help of technology, e-library for children, e-farm for farmers and e-employment for self-help group women should be promoted. He also urged village heads to promote chemical-free natural farming.?

(With PTI Inputs)