New Delhi: A visionary and forward-looking leader that he has been, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 8th Independence Day speech on Sunday gave a clarion call to country women and men to generate a sense of united efforts – Sabka Prayas – to achieve new milestones in the next 25 years.
"yehi samay hae, sahi samay…..Kartavya ko apne sab jano (This is our time, this is the right time. It is time for all of us to know our respective national duties)," the Prime Minister said.
To his much acclaimed and popular slogan 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Saath, Sabka Viswas', he added the crucial elements of united 'efforts' by all – Sabka Prayas – as he unveiled an ambitious road map for the country to achieve when it turns 100.
"….Bharat ka anmol samay hae," he underlined adding "Please rise up, hoist the tricolour, it is time to unfurl new fortunes for India. It is time everyone and the country know its potentials too".
Mr Modi said the Centre will soon launch a Rs 100 lakh-crore Gati Shakti national infrastructure plan to boost the country’s economy. “We have to ensure we meet our goal of building Aatmanirbhar Bharat when we celebrate 100 years of India’s Independence.”
The Prime Minister lauded the Tokyo Olympic winners and the entire contingent and also Covid warriors. For Olympic stars who brought laurels to the country, he urged the gathering to give each one of them special applause by clapping hands. Mr Modi himself raised his hands in clap to applaud Gold medalist Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who created history at the recently-concluded Tokyo Olympics, and others.
"I urge the nation to applaud their achievement today. They have not only won our hearts but also inspired future generations,” he said.
The Prime Minister made it clear that his government is committed to the welfare of small farmers and listed out a series of measures to help them.
For the first time ever, as soon as the tri-colour was hoisted by PM Modi, flower petals were showered at the venue by two Mi-17 1V helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Amrut formation.
He highlighted the strength and patience of Indians in fighting the battle against the virus. “We had many challenges but we worked with extraordinary pace in every area. It’s a result of the strength of our industrialists and scientists that today India doesn’t need to depend on any other nation for vaccines,” he said.
Mr Modi said it is also true that India is not Energy independent and it spends over Rs 12 lakh crore on importing energy. As the nation celebrates its 75 years of Independence, we have to ensure that India becomes Aatma Nirbhar in energy production too, he underlined.
The Prime Minister said there is a need to work together for manufacturing world-class products, using cutting-edge innovation and new-age technology.
The Prime Minister said, to further increase the developmental progress, we have to focus on our manufacturing and export. The products India sends overseas should be of high quality, he stressed.
He said, to give impetus to 'Make In India', we have introduced PLI scheme that will help us in increasing the exports.
He said, the nation has witnessed India’s first Made in India Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant completing its first trial.
The Prime Minister said, the startups of yesterday are becoming unicorns today. He said, these 'wealth creators' now have the market value of over thousands of crores.
He said, we have to stop the over-involvement of government in the form of complex policies and maintained that necessary tax reforms are being carried out to give impetus to Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business.
He mentioned about potentials of northeast India in multiple sectors such as tourism, adventure sports and herbal medicines.
Terror and Expansionism:
In veiled reference to two of India's key neighbours, without taking names, the Prime Minister said the country is aware of the challenges of Terrorism and Expansionism.
