New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the “new India” is moving ahead with new policies and strategies, and his government is working proactively in matters of technology and infrastructure, shunning the “reactive approach” of the past.
In a video address to a ‘Rozgar Mela’, Modi asserted the ‘Mudra’ loan project for small and micro enterprises has created over eight crore new entrepreneurs, and the government’s policies and strategies have opened the doors to new possibilities.
He also took a swipe at those who “consider themselves big economists” and gave “loans on phone” to big businessmen but are “ridiculing” the scheme.
Though he named no one, his swipe was apparently aimed at Congress veteran and former finance minister P Chidambaram who recently questioned the ‘Mudra’ scheme and wondered what kind of businesses can be started with a loan of Rs 50,000.
Modi said Rs 23 lakh crore loan has been given under the scheme with 70 per cent of beneficiaries being women.
Microfinance does a lot in strengthening grassroots economy but some people who consider themselves big economists never realised this and they don’t understand the capabilities of the common man, he said.
At the programme, appointment letters were given to 71,506 recruits in different ministries and departments.
Modi cited many development figures to underline the scale of change since he came to power in 2014.
Only 20,000 km of rail line was electrified in the seven decades till 2014 but the figure is 40,000 km in the last nine years, he said, adding that against only 600 metre of metro line built per month earlier, it is six km now.
The rural road length was 4 lakh km till 2014 but is now 7.25 lakh km while 6 lakh km optical fibre has been laid in villages, he said.
There are 148 airports against 74 earlier and the capital expenditure has risen by four times, Modi added.
The massive infrastructure work going on is creating huge employment and self-employment opportunities, he said.
The prime minister stated that the government is committed to providing the right opportunities for the talent and energy of the youth to achieve the resolves of a developed India.
Modi also highlighted that the process for government recruitment is taking place at a fast pace in NDA-ruled states from Gujarat to Assam and Uttar Pradesh to Maharashtra.
He noted that recruitment letters to more than 22,000 teachers were handed out in Madhya Pradesh only on Wednesday.
“This Rozgar Mela is proof of our commitment towards the youth of the nation,” Modi said.
Noting that India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world, the prime minister said the world is seeing India as a bright spot amidst the global challenges of recession and pandemic.
“Today’s New India is moving with policies and strategies that have opened the doors for new possibilities,” he said.
Modi said after 2014, India adopted a proactive approach as opposed to the reactive stance of the earlier times.
“This has resulted in a situation where this third decade of the 21st century is witnessing opportunities for employment and self-employment that were unimaginable earlier. Youth is finding such sectors which did not even exist ten years ago,” Modi said.
Giving examples of startups and Indian youth’s enthusiasm, the prime minister referred to a report that said that startups have created more than 40 lakh direct or indirect jobs. He also mentioned drones and the sports sector as new avenues of employment.
“The thinking and approach of Aatmnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan go beyond adopting swadeshi and ‘vocal for local’. Aatmnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is an ‘abhiyan’ of creating crores of employment opportunities from villages to cities,” he said and gave examples of indigenously made modern satellites and semi-high-speed trains.
He said that more than 30,000 Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches have been manufactured in India in the last eight-nine years. Technology and raw materials for these coaches have created thousands of jobs in India, he said.
The prime minister also said that the government laid the benchmark for the quality parameters of imported toys and also started promoting the indigenous toy industry, as a result of which the face of the toy industry in India completely transformed and also played a key role in creating numerous job opportunities.
Modi highlighted that his government changed the decades-old mindset that defence equipment in India could only be imported, by trusting indigenous manufacturers which resulted in the armed forces creating a list of more than 300 equipment and weapons that would only be made in India.
He said Rs 15,000 crore worth of defence equipment is being exported all around the world.
Modi also highlighted the strides made in the field of mobile phone manufacturing in the last few years and said that by encouraging local manufacturing and providing incentives for that, India saved a lot of foreign exchange as India is now exporting mobile handsets along with meeting the local demand.
The prime minister also highlighted the role of investment in infrastructure in employment generation. He said that emphasis on capital expenditure is creating infrastructure like roads, railways, ports and buildings. In his message to those who have received their appointment letters, the prime minister said this is an opportunity to contribute to the development of the country while the nation moves ahead with the goal of becoming a developed India by 2047.
PTI

Press Trust of India