Raman Suri
Ever since Russia and Ukraine have entered into full-fledged war, India has been moving very cautiously and has even abstained from voting against Russia or favouring any resolution censuring Russia for its military actions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, based on Russia’s past support to India especially on Kashmir issue and knowingly that we had our students and professionals in both these nations who needed safe evacuation, didn’t move in haste and chose to ask Russia to end war but at the same time, continued India’s trade with the nation for our benefit.
The decision was so right that India, unlike other nations, continued to import oil and didn’t see its economy dwindling because of the ongoing conflict. We were also able to evacuate about 20,000 Indian students from Ukraine safely. India, at that time, had hardly emerged from a threat to its economy because of COVID-19 pandemic that war between Russia and Ukraine broke out. This was the time when Narendra Modi chose to stay neutral and didn’t pick up any sides, because for us,the main priority was continuation of development and not entering into any conflict.
This must be understood that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hobnobbing with the Head of States around the globe, he was actually convincing them that nothing less than peace, check on corruption, switching over to e-currency and nailing the nations who support, breed and launch terrorists can bring an order in the world. He ensured that while India didn’t go against Russia, other nations continued to have their socio-economic ties with us ably and like before, for the simple reason that their interests were never compromised.
The Indian economy is believed to be amongst the top five in the world and this is the reason that we are readying ourselves to play a major role in the near future. We overcame the deadly pandemic without letting our economy be affected and while the world faced chaos due to war, we were comfortable and continuing with our economic activities like before, be it importing oil or exporting wheat. The opposition pressured the Union Government to side with European nations and the United States of America in condemning Russia for launching a war on Ukraine but the Narendra Modi government didn’t succumb to the pressure for larger good of our nation.
Despite the world crisis arising due to pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured that each and every Indian is vaccinated well within a stipulated time and without any chaos. Today, about 210 crore dozes have been administered and the largest-ever vaccination campaign is going on. The entire amount of money, thus spent on vaccinating Indians, was borne by the government without getting anything else affected. Still remarkable achievement was that despite pressure from opposition to buy vaccination from a particular company in haste, the Prime Minister preferred to bank upon indigenous vaccines, that proved beneficial.
Had Narendra Modi succumbed to pressure from the opposition, we would have paid more for a vaccine over which many European countries are today casting their doubts. In a nutshell, it was the vision of Narendra Modi that during the first wave of COVID-19pandemic, he saved our lives and during the second wave, he saved our economy. It was he who encouraged people to stay motivated and not get discouraged by the waves of COVID-19 that were consuming many lives. At a time when uncertainty was prevailing, he kept us all strong enough to face the virus and also fight it collectively.
Ever since 2014 when Narendra Modi came into power, the opposition was making huge hue and cry as to why was the Prime Minister travelling around the globe for no reasons. The reason however came to the foreground when India took an action against hostile Pakistan with surgical strike on terror camps and no one from around the globe spoke against us. The situation today has reached a stage where even the United States of America has admitted that Pakistan is the most dangerous nation on the planet. US President Joe Biden observed this today but Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ever since the inception of militancy in Kashmir, had been demanding the declaration of Pakistan as a ‘rouge state’.
It was the result of Prime Minister’s smart methods that after India took action against Pakistan post Uri attack, no one spoke against the surgical strike. The Indian army was given a free hand after which our valiant soldiers attacked terror camps in Pakistan and destroyed them. After Pulwama attack that left 40 CRPF jawans martyred, it was again PM Narendra Modi who didn’t spare Pakistan and launched an air strike on terror camps in Balakote area of Pakistan and eliminated about 350 terrorists. This is the military strength of India.
Coming to our heritage which is our cultural strength, Narendra Modi in the past eight years, through his Hindu pride mantra, united one hundred crore Hindus and made the world understand that secularism doesn’t stop anyone from talking about or working for the majority people of the country. The Mahakaleshwar Temple of Ujjain which is one of the twelve Jyotirlings was developed, Rudra Lake that had become a dumping area was rejuvenated, about 200 statues were installed at the Mahakal Corridor and a total amount of about Rs 850 crore is to be spent till the 900 meters long Corridor is not fully dedicated to the pilgrims who earlier were unable to steer through the streets to seek blessings of Lord Shiva.
Similarly, Kashi Vishwanath Temple was remodelled and a dedicated corridor right up to the Ganga Ghat was developed in about 5000 sq. ft. area leading to a three-times increase in pilgrimage. The Prime Minister also ensured that the entire Kedarnath is developed for the convenience of pilgrims. In J&K too, now a road has been proposed right up to the Sangam top to make pilgrims seek blessings of Lord Shiva at Shri Amarnath ji Shrine. This will change the way pilgrims go to the cave shrine and will have to trek only a few kilometres to reach the cave shrine.
All this changed the perception of people who used to believe that talking about minorities is good and secular but talking about the majority is communal. Today our economy, on all fronts, is getting a boost and India is progressing by leaps and bounds. When we talk of helping the poor, it was the vision of PM Modi that Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) was started on March 26, 2020 during the period of COVID-19 crisis. Under this scheme, 80 crore poor people are getting free ration till date. The scheme has entered its seventh phase and an amount of 3.45 lakh crore has so far been spent on it. Helping poor eat for 28 months continuously for free is a record that has astonished the world.
This could become possible because there was Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and poor started getting direct benefits in their bank accounts without any scope of pilferage, making the money reaching the most deserving directly. In medical sector, so far about 3.5 crore people have benefited under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana because Rs 25 lakh crore has gone directly into their bank accounts. Today, India is having 1097 Universities, 8 fully functional AIIMS, and newly established IIT and IIM are functional in Jammu and Kashmir with militancy is on its last legs. Massive infrastructure in mountainous regions is giving better connectivity to people and helping build a strong economy. Make in India and start-ups are all producing a new breed of tech savvy Indians who are creating employment instead of seeking it. We have also ended Triple Talaq and empowered women.
The rising economic activities could be gauged from the fact that e-way bills amountingto Rs 706.3 million were generated in the financial year 2022, electric mobile sales are increasing manifold, Indian railways have registered a phenomenal growth in freight loading, India has recorded world’s highest digital payment volume at Rs 148.6 billion transactions and made digital payments of Rs 1.09 trillion as UPI transactions in year 2022, annual GST collections are touching Rs 14.9 lakh crore, ten public sector banks have been merged into four to facilitate consolidation, India is now the exporter of defence equipment and also an investor-friendly nation.
To further strengthen the economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also dedicated 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) to the nation including two in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP Government ensured that the DBUs strengthen the ease of doing business practices and provide more facilities and security to thebank customers. These reforms will lead to complete transparency in the identification of NPAs and hence lakhs of crores of rupees will be brought back into the banking system.
In short, the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has completed eight years of ‘Seva, Sushasan and Garib Kalyan’. There has been a paradigm shift towards people-centric governance, and the structural transformations have helped India strengthen its position as one of the strongest and most resilient countries in the world. No one can now stop India from becoming a superpower especially when its voice is being heard across the globe. It is high time when young girls and boys put their best foot forward in building a strong and self-reliant India. So, let’scome together and celebrate the beginning of a New India!
(The writer is Bharatiya Janata PartyJ&K Executive Member)
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