New Delhi, Nov 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that indecisiveness had kept Kashmir mired in violence for seven decades
Delivering the keynote address at the HT Leadership Summit, PM Modi said he felt the same excitement to read the news about the merger of Kashmir with India like every other citizen in October 1947.
However, he added, at that moment, he also realized how indecisiveness had kept Kashmir mired in violence for seven decades.
“It is heartening that these days news of record voting in the elections in J&K is published in papers,” he added.
Hitting out at earlier governments for bringing in schemes to please vote bank, the Prime Minister said his government’s purpose was miles away from vote bank politics and it was moving ahead with the mantra of progress of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Prime Minister said there was a time in the 1990s when India had seen 5 elections in a span of 10 years evidence of the instability in the country. He added that while the experts writing in the newspapers had predicted that things would continue in the same manner, the citizens of India had once again proved them wrong. Modi said that today, there is talk of uncertainty and instability all around the world with many countries in the world seeing new dispensations coming to power, whereas in India, people have elected the same government for the third time.
Talking about policies in the past, Modi said the phrase ‘Good economics is bad politics’ was being promoted by experts and supported by the Governments. This, he said, had become a means for the earlier Governments to cover up bad governance and inefficiency. He added that this had led to an unbalanced development in the country which had hampered the trust of the people in the Government. The Prime Minister remarked that his Government had won back the trust of the people by ensuring the Mantra of Progress of the people, Progress by the people, and Progress for the people. He added that the Government aimed to build a new and developed India and the people of India had entrusted them with the capital of their trust. Modi remarked that despite misinformation, and disinformation in the age of social media, the citizens of India have faith in us, in our government.
Modi highlighted that when the trust of the people increases, their confidence increases, which results in a different effect on the development of the country. Emphasizing the importance of Risk-taking, Modi remarked that our ancestors took risks which helped us to promote Indian goods and services in foreign countries and make India a hotspot of commerce and culture. However, he added, that this culture of risk-taking was lost in the post-independence period by the previous Governments. Modi remarked that India has seen development and changes in the last 10 years since his Government came to power and gave new energy to the risk-taking culture among the citizens of India. He added that our youth were finding opportunities and taking risks in various fields which was evident in the registration of more than 1.25 lakh startups in India. The Prime Minister said there was a time when even taking up sports as a profession was a risk. However, he added, today, even the youth of our small towns are taking this risk and bringing glory to the country in the world. Citing the example of the women associated with self-help groups, Modi said today, about 1 crore lakhpati didis are running their businesses by becoming entrepreneurs in every village.
“Indian society, today, is filled with unprecedented aspirations and We have made these aspirations the basis of our policies”, said Modi. He added that the Government had promoted a model of development consisting of the combination of employment through investment and dignity through development. The Prime Minister added that where there is investment, employment is generated through investment leading to development, and that development increases the dignity of the citizens of India. He cited the example of building toilets in the country, which is a means of security and dignity along with convenience. Modi said it also accelerated development, thereby making evident the success of the mantra of Employment through Investment and dignity through Development on the ground. He also cited the example of LPG gas cylinders, which were considered a status symbol in the past. Modi remarked that his Government made it a priority to provide gas connections to every house while previous Governments were debating on the number of cylinders to be given to people. He added that there were more than 30 crore gas connections in the country as against 14 crore in 2014. Modi further highlighted that there was supporting infrastructure to ensure the demand for gas cylinders is met. This, he said, had also created employment right from setting up of bottling plants at various places to creating distribution centers to delivery of cylinders. Modi also listed other examples such as mobile phones, Rupay cards, UPI, etc which were based on the Investment to Employment, Development to Dignity model of development.
The Prime Minister emphasized that it was imperative to understand another approach of the government to understand the growth trajectory that India is on today. He added that the approach was “Spend Big For The People and Save Big For The People”. Explaining the same, Modi said, India’s union budget is Rs. 48 lakh crore today as against Rs. 16 lakh crore in 2014. He added that today’s capital expenditure is more than Rs. 11 lakh crore as against Rs. 2.25 lakh crore in 2013-14.
He further added that the capital expenditure was being spent on new hospitals, schools, roads, railways, research facilities, and many such public infrastructures. The Prime Minister underlined that along with increasing expenditure on the public, the Government was also saving the public’s money. Presenting the facts and figures, Modi said that the leakage that has been stopped by DBT has saved the country Rs. 3.5 lakh crore while Free treatment under Ayushman Bharat Yojana has saved Rs 1.10 lakh crore for the poor. He added that Medicines available at an 80% discount at Jan Aushadhi Kendras have saved Rs 30 thousand crore for the citizens while Controlling the prices of stents and knee implants has saved thousands of crores of rupees for the people. Continuing the list, he added the Ujala scheme has saved Rs 20 thousand crore in electricity bills for the people while Diseases have been reduced due to Swachh Bharat Mission and this has saved about Rs 50 thousand for every family in the villages. Citing a UNICEF report, Modi said that the family which has its toilet is also saving about Rs 70 thousand, and a WHO study conducted on 12 crore people whose homes have tap water for the first time has saved more than Rs 80 thousand every year.