Following a controversy over the deployment of civil servants as “Rath Prabharis” during the coming Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra programme across the country, the government on Thursday clarified that the use of such a term was not proper and that the officials would instead be addressed as nodal officers.
The Congress had raised an objection, asking how the officials could be told to do such a pre-poll “political propaganda” for the government. Through an October 17 letter, all the departments were earlier told that Joint Secretaries, Directors, and Deputy Secretaries would be deployed as “Rath Prabharis” to coordinate for the preparations, planning, execution and monitoring of the programme.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the yatra on November 15, on the occasion of “Birsa Munda Jayanti – Jan-jaati Gaurav Diwas” by flagging of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) vans at Khunti in Jharkhand. The vans will be visiting the tribal districts initially and the remaining districts from November 22 onwards till January 25, 2024.
