There is an atmosphere of trust, positivity and hope in India and its global standing is rising, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday, highlighting sectors showing robust growth and well-performing social schemes that, he said, have helped transform the lives of millions of people.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Modi talked about his government’s achievements in steering the country through a pandemic, ensuring countrywide vaccination, initiating widespread digitisation, nurturing start-ups, and fostering education and health care.
The PM said that challenges might arise but with the determination of 1.4 billion Indians, the nation can overcome all obstacles. “The handling of the country during once-in-a-century calamity and war has filled every Indian with confidence. Even in such a time of turmoil, India has emerged as the 5th largest economy in the world,” he added.
He began his speech by expressing satisfaction that no one had opposed the President’s Speech. He said that during the pandemic, India-made vaccines helped the world’s largest inoculation programme, under which millions of Indians were given free shots. More than 150 nations were provided medicines and vaccines.
“India’s digital infrastructure, too, showed its strength during this time. The whole world is studying this today. At a time when developed countries were unable to help their citizens financially, one country was able to deposit money in the citizens’ account in a fraction of a second…today, vaccination certificates are available on our mobile phones within seconds. We have shown this strength,” he added.
He said India was working towards plugging gaps in global supply chains and emerging as a manufacturing hub. In the last nine years, India incubated 90,000 start-ups and was ranked third in the world in this sector. The startup ecosystem has reached tier 2 and 3 cities, he added. “The young people of the country have also helped create many unicorns…there is positivity and hope towards India at a global level,” he said.
He noted that India was second in the world in mobile phone manufacturing, third in domestic air traffic, third in consumer energy consumption, and fourth in renewable energy capacity. “Today, our sportspersons are showing their prowess across the world, and we are progressing in education,” he said.
For the first time, higher education enrolment has crossed 40 million, and the number of engineering, medical colleges and professional institutions is rising. “At every stage, on every level, there is hope and positivity. But some people are drowning in negativity and disappointment,” he added.
Modi was delivering the reply to the motion of thanks on the President’s Speech after a session that was dominated by Opposition demands for a joint parliamentary probe into allegations of fraud levelled by American firm Hindenburg against the Adani Group. He didn’t refer to the allegations directly but used the reach of his welfare schemes to hit out at the Opposition.
“80 crore people are given free rations, 11 crore farmers receive PM Kisan benefits thrice a year, 3 crore people who lived in kuchha houses have been given pucca houses, 9 crore women got free gas connection, 11 crore women got toilets and I helped them maintain their dignity, 8 crore mothers got water connection for the first time through nal se jal and 2 crore people saved their lives through Ayushman Bharat. They know Modi was useful in their crisis. How will you convince these people about your wild allegations and dirty abuses against me?”
The PM reiterated the commitment of his government towards communities that are deprived and neglected, and asserted that the biggest benefits of the welfare scheme had been received by Dalits, Adivasis, women and vulnerable sections. “For decades, their condition was not improved, as envisioned by the makers of the Constitution. After 2014, these families received the maximum benefits of the garib kalyan yojanas. For the first time, these neighbourhoods received power connections. Earlier, they would have to walk miles for water, but now they have piped water. Millions of these families now have pucca houses,” he added.
Throwing light on his government’s women focus, Modi said the administration had spared no efforts to strengthen “Nari Shakti”. “When the mothers of India are empowered, then the people, society and nation are strengthened,” he said.
He highlighted that the government addressed the aspirations of the middle class and honoured them for their honesty, noting that the price of data had plunged, the avenues for education had flourished, jan aushadhi kendras were helping with health care, and laws such as Real Estate Regulatory Act had ensured that people could fulfil their dreams of owning a home.
“We have to push the nation forward, and hence, there is no alternative to modernity. There is no time to waste and hence we are focussed on augmenting infrastructure,” he added.
Highlighting that the common citizens of India are full of positivity, the Prime Minister emphasised that even though the Indian society has the capability to deal with negativity, it never accepts such negative attitudes. “This is why people drowning in disappointment must introspect.”
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal slammed Modi for dodging questions on the Hindenburg-Adani issue.
“He (PM Modi) did not answer a single question raised by Rahul Gandhi on the Adani issue. He is dodging the real questions posed by our leader,” he told news agency ANI.
