Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday outlined the future of the modern India of his dream and expressed the confidence that all the 130 crore Indians would whole-heartedly contribute in making the country “Atmanirbhar.”
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort on the 74th Independence Day, Modi dwelt considerable part of his hour-long speech on the theme of self-reliance and said the pledge the people of the country took while fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic to make India “Atmanirbhar” would be achieved at all costs.
Stating that his dream was to make India stand on its own feet in all respects without been depended on anyone else in any sector and instead become a global leader in all aspects, Modi said he had the confidence on the abilities of his fellow Indians to achieve the goal they have set for themselves even in adverse circumstances. “I am confident that India will realise this dream. I am confident of the abilities, confidence and potential of my fellow Indians. Once we decide to do something, we do not rest until we achieve that goal,” Modi said with full conviction. The prime minister admitted that the Corona outbreak was posing a major challenge before the country on the pace of its progress, “but it is not big enough to stop our journey towards achieving the goal of self-reliance,” he said.
Enumerating in detail the various welfare measures launched by his government in the last six years, Modi also announced a series of schemes his government was planning to launch in the coming days including a national digital health mission, cyber security policy, national optical fibre connectivity measures covering all six lakh odd village panchayats in the country, national infrastructure projects to take further forward the infrastructural development including his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s “Swarnim Chaturbhuj” scheme for national highways connectivity, project Asiatic Lions and project dolphins on the lines of on-going “project tiger,” innovative measures for the development of newly-created union territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, and many more, and said India must step on expeditiously on the paddle of development in the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century. The last five years, he said, was the period of meeting the shortcomings while the next five years would be the era of achieving our targets of developments overcoming all odds and any challenges the future might pose before the country, he said.
After paying tributes to the freedom fighters who fought to bring Independence to the nation, the Prime Minister remarked on the special circumstances under which this year’s celebrations were taking place. “I’m missing our children, the future of our nation, who are not in this programme because they had been “caged” by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
While thanking the corona warriors of the country, the prime minister refrained from announcing any specific timeline on the expected availability of corona vaccines but dropped enough hints to enthuse confidence in the people that the days might not be very far away when the vaccines would re-kindle hopes and strength in the people to overcome the pandemic. “Our scientists and experts are working not one but on developing three Corona vaccines in the country to overcome the pandemic. A number of pharmaceutical companies have joined hands to produce the vaccines the moment the scientists and researchers give the green signal and I assure you that the government was ready to with the line of action to take the vaccines to the door-steps of every citizen in the country,” Modi said. Saluting the unwavering spirits of the people of the country even in this hour of crisis, he only asked the countrymen to keep patience and faith in the scientists and researchers in India to overcome any adverse challenges.
Harping on the self-reliance, Modi referred to the immense natural resources in the eastern parts of the country and said it was shocking that all these years India was “exporting” raw materials and “importing back” the finished products made from the same raw materials. Stressing the need to encourage the country’s “able and competent labour force,” the prime minister said the time had come when we must stop the practice of exporting raw materials and import finished goods. “Value addition must be the ‘mantra’ of the day and we must produce the finished goods and export the same to other needy countries,” he said. Modi agreed that there were “lakhs of challenges” for ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and these increase if there was global competitiveness. “But if there are lakhs of challenges then the country also has power to throw up crores of solutions,” he added.
Dwelling on the need for a stronger, connected and comprehensive infrastructural network in the country, the prime minister announced allocation of about Rs 110 lakh crores and said about 7,000 projects had been identified in different sectors to achieve the goal to create infrastructure with multi-modal connectivity. Underlining the importance of encouraging the products of Indian artisans, he gave the call for “vocal for local” mission to ensure that home-grown products get priority and support over the competitive products from other countries.
Announcing the National Digital Health Mission to streamline and digitise healthcare needs, Modi said under the proposed scheme every citizen would be given a “health ID” which would contain digital records of the patients’ previous medical history, tests, doctors consulted to help expeditious treatments of all future ailments. He further said schemes like the “Jal Jeevan Mission” had empowered the spirit of cooperative but competitive federalism.
Speaking on the New Education Policy 2020, the Prime Minister said that it would help Indian citizens become “global citizens”. On the optical fibre network, he said while only about five dozens villages were connected with optical fibres six years back, more than 1.50 lakh villages had been brought under the network during the last six years and the works were in progress in another one lakh villages. “But the need of the hour as seen due to the Corona pandemic when on-line education has reached almost every corner of the country has forced the government to re-orient our vision and the government has decided to connect all the six lakh odd villages in the country with optical fibre in the next 1,000 days,” he said.
Paying glowing tributes to the armed personnel who lost their lives in maintaining the sovereignty of the country, the prime minister said from LAC to LOC everywhere, “our jawans have given befitting reply to all aggressions on our borders.” He also spoke about the abrogation of article 370 and how it has been a year since Jammu and Kashmir has seen ‘independence from the article”. Speaking on Ladakh, he said the region had showed how India responded to those who threaten her territorial integrity.
Referring to the improvements in the relations with other countries India had achieved during the last six years, Modi said his government was working on “global neibhourhood” beyond the countries connected with land or sea. Pointing out that India was working with maritime neighbours to ensure peace and stability in Southeast Asia, he said India always believed that the entire world is one family. “While we focus on our own economic growth and development, humanity must retain a central role in this process and our journey,” he emphasized.
Pointing out the progress made in the agricultural sector, the prime minister said there was time when India depended on imported food grains to feed its own people. “Today our farmers have shown to the world that India was not only self-sufficient in food products, but could also feed any needy country in the world,” he said.
Similarly in the industrial spheres, many big companies were turning towards India. “We have to move forward with the mantra of ‘Make for world’ along with ‘Make in India,’ he said. He pointed out that the last year there was a record 18 per cent increase in Foreign Direct Investment to India. “The world has shown confidence in India as we have worked on our policies, democracy and strengthening of the foundation of our economy,” he said.
About women’s welfare, the prime minister pointed out that whenever women received opportunities, they made India proud and further strengthened it. “Today, nation is determined to provide equal opportunities of self-employment and women’s employment. Today women are working in coal mines, our daughters are touching the sky while flying fighter planes,” he said with an aura of pride. To stop child marriages, he said the government had set up a committee to recommend “the right minimum age for marriage of our daughters. We will take appropriate decision after the committee submits its report,” he added.
