Noting that the creation of jobs has been the topmost priority of his Government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that all efforts have been geared up towards the task.
In an interview with the media, the Prime Minister said that the BJP rules 16 States and is the principal Opposition in eight States, and there is no corner of the country where the BJP does not have support.
“The creation of jobs has been the topmost priority of my Government. All our efforts have been geared up to the task. Average inflation during 2014-15 to 2023-24 (till November) was only 5.1 per cent, compared to 8.2 per cent during the previous 10 years (2004-05 to 2013-14),” he said. He said investments in infrastructure have a large multiplier impact on growth and employment.
Discussing the pace of infrastructure development in the country, Prime Minister said that infrastructure creation is happening at a never-before-seen pace, and all sectors are doing much better than what they did 10 years ago, when Congress-led UPA was in power.
“It is well known that investments in infrastructure have a large multiplier impact on growth and employment. Hence, we have constantly increased the capital investment outlay,” the PM said.
Opposition parties have been trying to corner the Government on issues such as “unemployment and price rise”.
Commenting on the impetus towards semiconductor chip manufacture and other critical and emerging technologies in the country, the Prime Minister said, “The semiconductor mission is something we should have started 30 years back. We are already late”.
“We have taken giant leaps in our semiconductor manufacturing mission. Our focus is now on bringing in the entire ecosystem of electronics manufacturing into India which includes the entire value chain,” the PM said.
He also discussed the efforts to develop India’s leadership in Artificial Intelligence. “We will be working on our own computing power in large indigenous language models keeping in mind the diversity of Indian languages and our needs.”
The Prime Minister said that India has shown remarkable resilience despite two years of a once-in-a-century pandemic and global conflicts disrupting global value chains and even causing recessionary pressures across the world.
On the question that BJP is not ruling in any of the big Southern States, the Prime Minister talked about the BJP’s expanding footprint in the country.
“Today, there is no corner of the country where our party does not have support. From local bodies in Kerala to being the principal Opposition in many States, our party is doing robust work among the people.”
The Prime Minister said that the BJP is in Government in six North Eastern States, including predominantly Christian majority States like Nagaland and Meghalaya. He also pointed out that “we are the single largest party as far as Southern India is concerned, in terms of the Lok Sabha seats.”
Reiterating his philosophy of Nation First, PM Modi said, “Everything I have done, as a karyakarta, as a CM and as PM, I have always put the nation first. Every decision I have taken has been taken with national interest in mind. Often people ask me about how I took a difficult decision. For me, it does not seem difficult because I take all my decisions with the single prism of Nation First.” He also talked about the mantra behind his approach to policymaking and said, “Main kuch bhi acha lage isliye nahi karta, Lekin acha ho isliye karta hu”.
Asked about his approach of picking up uncomfortable topics like cleanliness, the Prime Minister said, “makhan par lakir to sab karte hai. Karni hai to pathar par lakir karo. Kathin hai to kya hua, shuruat to kare. (Everyone draws line on butter. If you have to, draw a line on stone. It is hard, but let’s make a beginning).”
(with inputs from ANI)
