Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, July 6: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that the path-breaking economic reforms brought in by the Modi Government over the last four years, are not mere economic reforms but these economic reforms also brought about change in the economic behaviour of a common Indian citizen.
Delivering keynote address after releasing the book titled “India: 20 Trillion Economy by 2035-2040”, Dr Jitendra Singh said, a significant fact which has not been highlighted enough is that within one year of the introduction of GST, in the first quarter of the current year, there was as much as 44% increase in the advance Income Tax deposit by the individual tax payers, which is quite a departure from the past trends. From a tendency of being tax evaders, we are gradually evolving into a nation of tax payers, he said.
While earlier, a lot of creativity went waste in devising new methods of evading tax with some wrapping up currency notes in bed-sheets, others beneath the bathroom tiles or in the health club lockers, Dr Jitendra Singh said, now there is suddenly a sense of self-esteem in being a tax – payer which has also enriched the State exchequer and immensely benefited the pro-poor schemes like, for example, Ujjwala programme. To emerge as a front-line nation, he said, it is essential to live up to the parameters of the contemporary global world, and that is precisely what has been sought to be achieved by the Modi government’s successful bid to motivate mass participation.
Responding to the scientific address by Director General, CSIR (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) Dr Girish Sawhney, Dr Jitendra Singh said, a significant achievement of the Modi Government is that, with the direct intervention and indulgence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it has been possible to widen the applications of modern science and technology for the benefit of development as well as for bringing in ease of living for the common citizen. Citing example, he said, the Space Technology today is no longer confined only to launching of rockets, but, in the last three to four years, it has become an essential tool in several other spheres like “Smart City” programme, construction of roads, laying down of rail-tracks, guarding of unmanned rail-tracks, Soil Health Card, procuring of Utilization Certificates (UCs) for various infrastructural projects, etc.
Dr Girish Sawhney, DG, CSIR, eminent Scientist Dr. D.K. Aswal and Dr O.N. Ojha also spoke on the occasion, while the vote of thanks was delivered by Mahesh Chadha.
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