 "Narendra Modi, Independence Day")
In the penultimate Independence Day speech of his current term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday looked beyond the Lok Sabha polls due in April 2019 to give a call for building a “new India” by 2022.
If in his previous three speeches, the PM had announced such path-breaking steps as the abolition of the Planning Commission and schemes such as Startup India and Stand-Up India, Modi’s speech on Tuesday was devoid of new announcements except the launch of a website to honour gallantry award winners.
Instead, the PM focused on giving a report card of his government’s performance in the last three years and spelt out his vision of a “new India”. He indicated the lynchpins of his Lok Sabha campaign would be his government’s efforts at curbing corruption, building modern infrastructure, and delivering welfare.
Modi said by 2022, the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, he envisioned a country where each family would have a pucca house, electricity, and power supply; farmers would earn twice of what they get currently; the country would be free of terrorism, communalism, casteism, corruption, and nepotism; and it would be clean and healthy.
The PM appealed to people to leave behind the “chalta hai” attitude, to think of “badal sakta hai”, or we can transform. Asking countrymen to take the “New India pledge and move ahead”, the PM quoted from scriptures: “If we don’t accomplish work within a stipulated time, we shall not be able to get the desired results.”
Modi asked people to replicate between 2017 and 2022 the resolve Indians showed from 1942 (Quit India Movement) to 1947. He said if Quit India’s slogan was “Bharat chhoro” today’s slogan should be “Bharat jodo”.
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In his fourth speech from the historic Red Fort, the 17th century structure built during the reign of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, the PM had special words for the millions of new voters who would exercise their franchise in the next Lok Sabha polls.
He said January 1, 2018, would be no ordinary day, as those born in this century will start turning 18. Modi said it would be “a decisive year of their lives”, as they are going to be the creator of the destiny of the nation. “You have an opportunity to shape the destiny of our country,” the PM said.
In his speech — at 57 minutes, the shortest he has delivered on Independence Day since 2014 — the PM sidestepped issues of external security such as the military standoff with China in Doklam, but referred to “the surgical strike” of September 2016 as evidence of India’s capability and strength.
It was only in passing that he referred to the death of about 60 children in a Gorakhpur hospital last week, reportedly because disrupted oxygen supply, clubbing it with other natural calamities.
But he spoke at length about the successes of his government, including demonetisation and the roll-out of the goods and services tax (GST). The PM also said he would ensure completion of 99 unfinished projects he announced last year by 2019.
On job generation, the PM said effort was on to make people job-creators and loans worth Rs 8 crore had been disbursed under the MUDRA scheme. The government’s record on employment generation has been abysmal, with Opposition reminding the PM his 2014 election promise of 20 million jobs a year.
Elaborating at length on his government’s anti-corruption efforts, the PM said Rs 800 crore worth of benami properties had been confiscated after the law was amended. He said his government, in three years, had confiscated black money to the tune of Rs 1.25 lakh crore.
On demonetisation, the PM said the move led to Rs 3 lakh crore coming into the banking system. However, the Reserve Bank of India is yet to release data on the amount of currency that was deposited during the note ban. Modi said more than Rs 1.75 lakh crore deposited after demonetisation in banks was under the scanner and that black money to the tune Rs 2 lakh crore has been deposited in banks.
Modi said his government’s efforts had resulted in more taxpayers filing income-tax returns. The numbers, he said, had more than doubled from 2.2 million last year to 5.6 million this year. He said over 1.8 million people have been identified who earned more than their declared income. Of these, around 450,000 have come forward to try “tread the right path after accepting their mistakes”.
The PM said post-demonetisation data revealed there are 300,000 shell companies indulging in hawala transactions. Of these, the registration of 175,000 companies had been cancelled.
On the GST roll-out, the PM said it had increased efficiency by 30% and brought corruption down. He said truck drivers were saving 30% in travel time. The PM also said digital transactions had increased by 34% since last year, while prepaid transactions had increased 44%.
Modi said his government has ensured that those who have looted the nation and its poor are not able to sleep peacefully, and the confidence of the hardworking and the honest had increased. He said roads and railway lines were being built at twice the speed, more than 14,000 villages had been electrified and 90 million farmers had got health cards.
As proof of good governance, Modi said home loans were cheaper, inflation is under control and red-tapism for businesspersons has reduced. With the Bharatiya Janata Party trying to expand in the east and the Northeast, the PM said his government was devoting significant attention to Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha and the Northeastern states.
On Kashmir, the PM said, “The problem will be solved neither by abuse or bullets — it will be solved by embracing all Kashmiris.” Modi said his government had laid emphasis on cooperative federalism, but was now moving towards a “competitive co-operative federalism”. The PM also spoke about the “sisters” who have launched a movement against “triple talaq”.
“Sometimes in the name of faith, some people due to lack of patience end up destroying the social fabric,” he said. The PM, however, didn’t contextualise if his message was for cow vigilantes.
