Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accompanied President Ram Nath Kovind to his ancestral village, Paraunkh, in Kanpur Dehat of Uttar Pradesh.
Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were also part of the visit.
"This land has dev bhakti (devotion) and desh bhakti (patriotism). The President is giving a new direction to women empowerment through Milan Kendra. This village will set an example as a model village", said PM Modi.
"It is our responsibility to modernise the Indian villages. This is the ideal of New India. The villages need to improve for the country to move ahead", he added.
"Today I was embarrassed when President came to receive me...We're working under him, there's a sanctity to his post but he told me that he respects Constitution but values matter and added that he had come to welcome me as a villager not as a President," PM Modi said in Kanpur Dehat.
Paraunkh has been developed as a "model village" with a yoga park, open-air gym, and an Anganwadi centre with its own "nutrition Vatika", among other facilities.
President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited Milan Kendra Paraunkh village in Kanpur Dehat earlier this afternoon.
The Kendra is the ancestral house of the President that was donated for public use and converted into a community centre (Milan Kendra). The Milan Kendra helps women get trained in job-oriented courses such as weaving, stitching, embroidery and other courses.
The PM and President performed puja to Pathri Devi, a deity widely revered in the village.
( With inputs from ANI )
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