Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a roadmap for India's growth in his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi on August 15.
PM began his address by paying tributes to India’s freedom fighters and security personnel and also remembered Aurobindo Ghose, a spiritual philosopher whose birth anniversary fell on August 15.
The prime minister hailed 'corona warriors' such as doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and sanitation workers, who are at the core of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The country will achieve victory over coronavirus with the resolve of its over 130 crore citizens, PM Modi said.
In a speech that spanned around 90 minutes, PM Modi asserted that the novel coronavirus pandemic cannot halt India’s push towards self-reliance, or ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
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'Atmanirbhar Bharat'
A large segment of PM Modi’s speech focussed on the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat' campaign. Under this campaign, PM Modi had previously given a clarion call for not only cutting imports, but also pushing exports of finished Indian products. Additionally, he said that the country now needs to move forward with the mantra of 'Make in India' along with 'make for the world'.
Healthcare and fighting COVID-19
Acknowledging that fighting the COVID-19 pandemic was a major challenge, PM Modi said that a vaccine against the disease was much-awaited. He added that three vaccines are in various phases of trials in the country and that the vaccination process will begin as soon as scientists give their approval.
The prime minister, delivering his seventh consecutive I-Day address to the nation, said that a roadmap to inoculate all citizens in the shortest possible time and plan for the vaccines’ mass production is ready.
He also launched the National Digital Health Mission. Under the initiative, all citizens will be issued with health IDs.
On hostile neighbours
Referring to the face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley that took place in June, PM Modi delivered a warning to hostile neighbours saying that India’s defence forces had given a befitting reply to those who challenged the country's sovereignty, in their own language.
In what could be seen as a reference to the recent India-China border tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, the prime minister said that "Respect for India's sovereignty is supreme for us and the world has seen what our brave jawans can do to maintain this resolve."
Boosting India’s infrastructure, connectivity
PM Modi also spoke at length about the need to boost India’s infrastructure and resolve connectivity issues. He announced that all six lakh villages in India would be connected with optical fibres within 1,000 days.
Just over a year after his government abrogated Article 370 of the Indian Constitution – which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir - and bifurcating the state into two Union territories, PM Modi promised that Legislative Assembly elections would be in J&K as soon as the delimitation exercise was completed.
PM Modi also said that Rs 110 lakh crore will be invested in over 7,000 projects across sectors under the National Infrastructure Policy.
He also highlighted initiatives taken up by his government in the last six year, such as Jal Jeevan Mission.
Additionally, he said that the Centre has set up a committee to reconsider the minimum age of marriage for girls in India.
“We have set up committee to reconsider the minimum age for marriage of our daughters. We will take appropriate decision after the committee submits its report,” PM Modi said.
“Whenever women received opportunity, they made India proud and strengthened it. Today, nation is determined to provide equal opportunities of self-employment and employment to them. Today women are working in coal mines, our daughters are touching the sky while flying fighter planes,” he added.
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