To mark 24 years of developmental works under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, starting from his stint as the chief minister of the state, Gujarat government will celebrate Vikas Saptah from October 7 to 15. The celebration will see participation of 13 departments on as many different subjects, the Gujarat government said. An announcement in this regard was made by senior minister and Spokesperson of the state government Rushikesh Patel. Patel said Modi was sworn in as the CM of Gujarat for the first time on October 7, 2001, and then became the Prime Minister in 2014. “This journey of Gujarat's development that began on October 7, 2001, will complete 24 years. To mark this occasion, the state government will celebrate Vikas Saptah (development week) from October 7 to 15 by launching various pro-people projects and organising events across the state,” he said. Patel said that each day of the celebration week will be on different themes and participation of various sections like youth, women, farmers etc. will be ensured in it. An official release quoted Patel as saying that Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will launch the celebration week on Tuesday by taking pledge of Bharat Vikas in the presence of other ministers and top officials. At the same time, similar pledges will be taken at Collector offices besides other government offices along with schools and colleges. On October 7, Tuesday, an exhibition of flagship schemes will be held at Sabarmati Riverfront along with online quiz competition, essay competition in schools and colleges, and lecture series at important locations. It will also include a cultural programme, podcast with cricketers Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma, and a brainstorming session of 1,000 youths at MS University in Vadodara. The release said that more than 1 crore post cards have been written by the department of cooperation, thanking PM Modi for bringing in social and economic benefits to people. The postcards have been written on a range of subjects like GST reforms, Atmanirbhar Bharat, financial inclusion and direct benefit transfer, solar rooftop scheme etc. Similarly, students of various colleges have written 4.50 lakh postcards expressing gratitude to PM Modi for Swadeshi Abhiyan, Operation Sindoor, GST reforms etc., it added. An exhibition of these postcards will be held at Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad. Employment fairs will also be held in all the districts in the state with a state-level programme in Gandhinagar in which employment letters will be allotted to more than 50,000 youths. With that, more than 25,000 youngsters will be allotted provisional offer letters. Also, Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) will be inked with industries for upgradation of ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes). On October 9 and 10, Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference will be held in Mehsana for the north Gujarat region. The Panchayat department will organise various programmes to distribute benefits of various schemes and to felicitate gram panchayats, which have performed best in various schemes, among others. On October 12 and 13, developmental works will be inaugurated in nagarpalikas. Besides, Swadeshi Shopping Festival will be organised along with programmes to make wall murals in municipal corporation areas. On October 14, agri seminars will be organised along with medical camps for animals and exhibition on agriculture and other topics. On October 15, various developmental works worth Rs 3,326 crore will be either inaugurated or their foundation stones will be laid. The release further said that programmes to celebrate the week will also include inauguration of 10 Swami Vivekananda Competitive Examination Study Centres in the state.
