Open Raj Bhawans for people, engage more with women leaders: President to Governors

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 3
Successful use of Jivamrut, a no-expense fertiliser made from processing cow excreta, across farmlands in Haryana’s Kurukshetra and later Gujarat, were among the natural farming solutions discussed at the two-day conference of Governors which concluded here on Saturday.
Pioneered by Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, formerly the principal of Gurukul in Kurukshetra, this zero budget farming method — which is helping farm owners move away from pesticide-driven expensive models in Haryana and vast swathes of Kutch, Navsari and Saurashtra — was among the best practices cited at the conference where Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked all Governors to adopt the Gujarat Raj Bhawan model of natural farming.
Referring to Gujarat Governor Devvrat’s natural farming and low budget practices, Modi said: “Other Governors should also try to emulate the model of natural farming suggested by Acharya Devvrat in other Raj Bhavans and make their premises free of chemicals.”
President Droupadi Murmu, for her part, asked Governors to democratise Raj Bhavans. “The ambience of the Raj Bhawans should reflect Indian ethos. The Governors should endeavour to increase the connection of common people. People should have a feeling of affinity with the Raj Bhawan as their own. Many Raj Bhawans are open for public visits and others can follow suit. They can increase public engagement by organising social and cultural events,” the President said, calling for increased engagement between Governors and women leaders in order to promote women-led development.
Murmu also asked Governors to help achieve last-mile coverage of key welfare programmes of the government. “To ensure that no eligible citizen is left out of public welfare programmes, the government has laid great emphasis on last-mile delivery. This has improved the lives of common citizens. The Governors should ensure that the benefits of all public welfare programmes reach every eligible person,” she said, adding that the development of the country depended on inclusive and accelerated development of the states and all states must learn from each other.
The Governors — CH Vijayashankar (Meghalaya), Santosh Gangwar (Jharkhand), Raman Deka (Chhattisgarh), Haribhau Bagde (Rajasthan), Om Mathur (Sikkim) and Jishnu Dev Verma (Telangana) — later met PM Modi at his residence.