Four For The Future

From the ramparts of Red Fort, PM Modi has articulated his grand vision of a long-lasting golden era of progress and prosperity for India, as Maa Bharti bounces back confidently after a thousand years of slavery, subjugation and impoverishment.

Modi, India’s first prime minister who was born after Independence, is optimistic about the country’s future. His confidence stems from tangible progress after more than nine years of relentless work to decisively uplift each member of the family of 140 crore Indians in every part of the country, irrespective of their religion, region, gender, caste, age or ethnic identity.

Every policy of the Modi government reflects his mantra of ‘reform, perform and transform’, which is delivering results, particularly for the poor and the underprivileged. This has helped India make the quantum jump from being the world’s 10th largest economy to the fifth rank in nine years, and on track to become the third biggest soon.

This ascent has been propelled by sound economic policies, determined clampdown on corruption, plugging of leakages in government expenditure, increased efficiency and transparency in governance, and generous welfare schemes.

A key part of the transformation is India’s women-led development. As PM said, India has more women pilots than any other country, and they are at the forefront of high-tech programmes like the Moon missions. It is a matter of pride that more girls are taking up science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) than boys. PM aims to create two crore lakhpati didisin villages, and involve women in operating and repairing drones.

In this transformational journey, the Modi government is liberating the poor from their lifelong struggle for roti, kapda aur makaan. It has provided direct benefit transfers, free foodgrains to about 80 crore people, countrywide validity of ration cards, toilets that protect the dignity of women, electricity in every village, cooking gas, good roads, health insurance and affordable internet. Schemes to provide houses and piped drinking water to every household are progressing rapidly.

The Modi government has managed inflation much better than other countries or compared with the previous regimes, but as PM said, the government is not complacent. More steps will be taken to minimise the burden of inflation on our countrymen. PM’s caring and compassionate policies helped 13.5 crore people move out of poverty and join the ranks of the middle class in five years until 2021.

The aspirational youth of India are generating demand and entrepreneurial energy. With the Modi government providing housing, healthcare and food to the masses, and crores of people moving out of the shackles of poverty, demand for various products is rising. This is creating new opportunities for our small businesses and traders. It is encouraging talented young men and women to create startups, which is converting job seekers into job creators.

Under the Modi government’s MUDRA loan scheme, ?23 lakh crore have been disbursed to create eight crore new entrepreneurs. About 70% of them are women entrepreneurs and 51% of the beneficiaries are from SC/ST or OBC categories.

In this phase of optimism during Amrit Kaal, in which PM’s visionary leadership will make India a developed country, there are some people who are nervous. They seem rattled by PM’s call to combat three evils: corruption, dynastic politics and appeasement.

Their fears are understandable. The government has taken a series of initiatives to weed out corruption with effective law enforcement, use of technology, and removal of archaic laws that have been misused to harass people and extort bribes. PM has also ensured that every government initiative treats all citizens as equals, unlike the policies of appeasement in the past, which have damaged social harmony.

PM Modi has correctly highlighted the evil of dynastic politics. In this brand of politics, members of a particular family occupy the top position of a political party irrespective of merit, with no chance for a deserving party member to rise to the top.

The government’s determination to crush these evils has enthused the masses, but some opposition parties are gloomy. They can’t conceal their negativity.

When one such party led a coalition government, it regularly faced corruption scandals involving lakhs of crores of public money. Its prime minister once said this was a compulsion of coalition politics. There cannot be a more unfortunate situation than a PM being unable to provide honest administration because he has to keep the coalition intact. The family that runs the party engineered a system that gave it power without accountability.

In contrast, for PM Modi, governance is all about honesty, accountability, transparency and a burning desire to improve the lives of citizens. For him, ‘family’ means all the 140 crore people in India, who trust his caring and compassionate leadership, which makes him India’s most effective and most popular Pradhan Sevak.