Nita Ambani, the chairperson of RIL's philanthropic arm Reliance Foundation, on Wednesday announced the inclusion of two more village clusters in Gujarat, viz. Modasa and Jasdan, in the foundation's unique Bharat India Jodo (BIJ) initiative.

Nita announced financial support of Rs 1 crore for each of Modasa and Jasdan, for the upliftment of marginalized farmers and their families in the two village clusters.

Nita stressed that why should 70 per cent of the country's population that lives in villages stay behind, when urban areas of the country are growing rapidly.

Speaking on the topic, she added, "This initiative helps marginalised farmers in villages to become self-sustainable so that farming does not stay inspirational but becomes aspirational and this will also arrest large-scale migration to cities for work."

The Reliance Foundation has plans to invest up to Rs 15 crore to improve the living standard of marginalized farmers in the next two years.

She also talked to local women in fluent Gujarati, and tried to understand the hardships and issues being faced by the villagers. She also urged other business houses in the country to come forward to help the marginalised farmers in undeveloped rural areas.

The Reliance Foundation has identified more than 250 villages in a total of ten states in the country where it has taken up the initiative.