New Delhi: Confident of a third term by securing a massive majority in the coming Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday outlined his vision for his next five-year term saying the Modi 3.0 government will put all its might to strengthen the foundation of “Viksit Bharat”, or a developed nation.
Severely criticising earlier Congress-led governments for their mismanagement of the economy, he said in the Rajya Sabha that his government had in the past 10 years worked for the development of all sections of society.
The Prime Minister said India has moved out of the “Fragile Five” during the Congress-led UPA government to be among the top five economies of the world. “Sabka saath is not a slogan, it is Modi’s guarantee,” the Prime Minister said in his spirited 90-minute reply to the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Upper House.
“During the Congress government’s 10 years of rule, the entire world used words like ‘fragile five’ and ‘policy paralysis’ for India, and in our 10 years among the Top 5 economies. That is how the world talks about us today”, he said.
The Modi government is completing its second five-year term and the next general election is due in April-May.
Criticising the main Opposition party, he said: “The Congress strangled democracy for power and dismissed democratically elected governments. The Congress has been against Dalits, backwards, tribals and had it not been for Babasaheb Ambedkar, they would not have got any reservation.” The PM also accused it of “creating narratives to divide the country”.
Mr Modi was referring to the protest dharna by the Congress led by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah over alleged "injustice" meted out by the Centre on devolution of the tax share to the state.
Taking a dig at the Congress, he said the party that had ceded large chunks of the country’s land to an enemy nation was now giving sermons to us on internal security.
“The Congress does not have a guarantee of its own leaders and policies but is questioning Modi’s guarantees,” he said, adding that it was aware of the problems facing the country but did nothing to resolve them.”Viksit Bharat is not a word play, but it is our commitment…” Mr Modi said, while outlining an ambitious roadmap for the next five years.
Giving insights about the President’s address regarding the four most important castes -- namely Nari Shakti, Yuva Shakti, the poor and annadata -- the PM reiterated that the development and progress of these four main pillars of India will lead to the nation becoming developed. He said that the 20th-century approach will not work if we want to achieve Viksit Bharat by 2047, when the country will be celebrating the 100 years of Independence.
Speaking about the development of SC, ST and OBC communities, the PM said that the abrogation of Article 370 ensured that these communities get the same rights as the rest of the country in Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly, the Forest Rights Act, Prevention of Atrocities Act and domicile rights for the Balmiki community in the state were also implemented only after the abrogation. He also mentioned the passing of the bill for OBC reservation in the local bodies of the Union territory on February 6.
He said that in the last 10 years, scholarships for SC and ST students were increased, enrollment numbers in schools rose, dropout rates were reduced significantly, a new Central Tribal University was established taking the number from one to two and the number of Eklavya Model Schools increased from 120 to 400. He said that enrolment of SC students in higher education has increased by 44 per cent, ST students’ enrolment by 65 per cent and OBC enrollment went up by 45 per cent.
Describing the earlier mess in public sector enterprises under the previous government, the Prime Minister said that enterprises like BSNL are leading the rollout of 4G and 5G, HAL was doing record manufacturing and Asia’s largest helicopter factory was run by HAL in Karnataka. LIC too was thriving with record share prices. He also informed the House that the number of Public Sector Units (PSUs) in the country had increased from 234 in 2014 to 254 today, and most of them are giving record returns, drawing attention of investors. The PSU Index in the country has witnessed a two-fold rise within the last year.
Highlighting the strides in the field of Digital India and fintech, he said that the next five years present a positive future for India’s digital economy. “Digital services will further India’s progress and I have full faith that our scientists will take us to new heights in the field of space technology.”
Talking about the grassroots economy, Mr Modi mentioned self-help groups and noted that “three crore lakhpati didis will write a new script of women’s empowerment.” The PM added that “by 2047, India will relive its golden period”, as he underlined his government’s commitment to Viksit Bharat.