Debashish Sengupta
(debashishsen.ds@gmail.com)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has completed nine years of good governance for the welfare of poor people in India. When we go through the implementation part of government initiatives, we find numerous schemes, programmes, and initiatives, among which some programmes are pursuing the principles of “Antyadaya” the uplift of the last poor person in the village. Under the Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Yojana, approximately 80 crore beneficiaries are getting free rice every month. In Assam, 53 lakh families comprising 1.93 crore beneficiaries received the benefit, which is very praiseworthy. Such schemes were subdivided into Antodaya Anna Yojana (AYY), Priority Household Scheme (PHH), and One Nation, One Ration card. In the health sector, Ayushman Bharat and Ayushman Assam immensely helped the ration card holders with coverage up to the annual income of Rs 5 lakh, which even the middle class finds difficult to afford due to the high premium burden.
In the Ayusman Bharat Yojana, 10.7 crore families got health insurance benefits, and already 4.5 lakh people were medically treated freely. In the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, more than 3 crore people got houses, and 11.8 crore people availed drinking water under Jal Jivan Missan. Jan Dhan Yojana virtually revolutionised the unprivileged class; 50 crore poor people opened bank accounts, which was not possible even 50 years after bank nationalisation. Here, I want to mention the street vendors’ loan under the PM Swanidhi scheme to more than 34 lakh street vendors and traders. During COVID-19, when entire economic activities came to a halt, the worst sufferers were the farmers, who were provided Rs 6,000 per year to twelve crore farmers through DBT, which was a great relief to them. Under the crop insurance scheme, 37 crore farmers were registered, which provided adequate security for them. Kisan Credit Card, which has eliminated the most unwanted money lenders for over 4 crore farmers, amounted to Rs. 4.7 lakh crore. Targeting women’s empowerment, several measures were taken, like Ujjala’s LPG connection at Rs 11.72 crore. Toilets were constructed, which changed the lives of rural women in our country. Furthermore, in “Standup India,” 81 percent and in the Mudra Yojana, an overwhelming majority were women beneficiaries. In this “Amritkal”, the country is fast moving towards setting up so many educational institutions, breaking the age-old bottleneck of 390 universities, 7 new IITs, 7 new IIMs, 15 AIIMS, and 225 medical colleges, followed by a skill development yojana for youths, start-ups, and more than 100 unicorns. During COVID-19, the world’s largest vaccine programme was successfully implemented, and India was termed “World Pharmacy,” along with the running of the mission `Indradhanu` for mothers and children. In digital, India’s spectacular performance surprised the developed Western world. The development of rail and road under PM GATI SHAKTI is progressing rapidly for the construction of new railway lines, electrification, and introduction of the Bande Bharat Express. In the Northeast, almost all states are being connected by rail. A special mention is to be made for Agartala, and Arunachal is very praiseworthy.
Several airports have been doubled from 74 to 148, and NE people are enjoying fares under the Udan Scheme. New waterways are revitalised, and MV Ganga Vilas is a good initiative. Though it is very difficult to summarise the entire work of the nine years of government, some major points I want to highlight are the new national education policy, which has been long pending, which gives due respect and credit to every language of the country and will bring out-of-school children back into the mainstream, vocational education, the holistic progress card, GER in higher education, the National Research Foundation, etc. Interestingly, several countries are approaching our government about setting up IIT campuses, and two IIT campuses—one in Tanzania and one in Abu Dhabi—are about to start operation. Narendra Modi changed the vision of India to’make in India` and `Aatmanirbhar Bharat` and underwent major policy reforms and provided concessions to foster a strong domestic eco-system and position India as an emerging semiconductor hub. Though cheap microprocessors are available in overseas markets, by removing bureaucratic lethargy, the policy paralysis of the earlier government is firmly moving towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat. In 2014, India’s electronic manufacturing was less than $30 billion, which has now exceeded $100 billion. India is now reorganised as a voice that speaks for all and stands for peace, security, and prosperity. India’s G20 presidency has served as a catalyst, invigorating the country’s foreign policy and also realising the vision of `Aatmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat`. Now, countries’ development partnerships are with 78 countries that are “demand-driven, transparent, empowerment-oriented, environment-friendly, and rely on a consultative approach”. GDP growth, digital progress, and GST collection per month well indicate the level of governance. Now, with the vision and mission, the government is moving on to the four I’s—infrastructure, investment, innovation, and inclusiveness—to make India a developed nation by 2047. Here, infrastructure is not just going to be physical, such as bridges, ports, or airports; the creation of digital infrastructure is also being given importance. Among the many success stories we critically analyse, people are aggrieved with demonetization, which aimed at attacking black money and combating terror funding. Fake notes did not yield the desired result. Price of rice as well as inflationary pressure on poor people is also a heavy burden that must be checked by strong anti-inflationary measures and monitoring of production and supply channels. There is also a popular public opinion that big bank defaulters like Mehul Chokshi, Nirav Modi, and Vijay Mallya should be brought back to the country for recovery and face legal consequences.
Unemployment is the biggest challenge facing the government with the biggest workforce in the world, so special care should be taken for profitable agriculture, MSME, SSI, and service sectors, apart from infrastructure and other big investments. Though investment is coming from several sources after financial and other reforms, which pushed the development of the country at an unprecedented rate, I am of the opinion that public-private sector balance must be maintained. As we observed, when the world economy is subject to depression, bank failures, and less demand, our economy stands alone with its head high. This is due to a strong, profitable public sector represented by Nabaratna, Maharatna, Mini Ratna, new strong public sector banks, Indian Railways, ISRO, and other strong public sector enterprises. Our country requires both public-sector and private-sector investments for sustained growth. Here I want to mention the proposed Global India Maritime Summit, where 70 nations are expected to participate, commencing on October 17th, organised by the Ministry of Port and Shipping. Now we must mention it here. Chandrayaan’s 3 yatra to the moon, successful hoisting of the G20, launch of Aditya L1, and passing of the long-pending women’s reservation bill have been applauded by the whole country.
People of India are very fond of visiting our holy places, especially old temples, so reconstruction of Kashi Biswanath Temple and Mahakal Temple of Ujjain and continuous monitoring of the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya have been very much liked by people of India.
On the one hand, Modi is continuously advocating our thousands of years old traditions, the contributions of Nalanda and Takshashila Universities, Yogasana, and rebuilding old temples while simultaneously taking effective steps for the development of artificial intelligence, green hydrogen, space research, protecting the environment, and the third biggest economy. People have observed that Narendra Modi is already ready for 2024.