Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday while interacting with Sarpanchs from across the nation via video conferencing on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Diwas said that the biggest learning from the Coronavirus pandemic is that it has taught that “we have to become self-reliant”

He emphasised, “We have been taught a lesson to not be dependent on the outside, to be self-reliant. We’ve been aware of this for a long time in India, but we’ve been reminded now, to be self-sufficient. Panchayats have a big role in this, stronger they are, stronger democracy will be.”

He also said that broadband has reached more than 1.25 lakh panchayats. “Not only that, the number of common service centres in villages is also crossing three lakh,” he added, alerting the vast rural populations of the progress in technology over the last several years..

The Prime Minister also launched two apps for the use of Panchayats