Prof. Vivek Singh
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a global leader with the most energetic, multi-faceted personality. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra is – Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, sabka vishwas. The present Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi was born on September 17, 1950 in a very poor and ordinary family in a place called Vadnagar in Mehsana district of Gujarat state. During his childhood, he used to sell tea to meet his needs and help in family work. At the age of 8 Narendra Modi joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. During the 21-month emergency that lasted from 1975 to 1977, Narendra Modi used to secretly help the RSS volunteers in their work. In 1978, Narendra Modi completed BA degree in Political Science from the University of Delhi and an MA degree from the University of Gujarat in 1983. In 2001, Narendra Modi was made the Chief Minister of Gujarat for the first time. Narendra Modi served as Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014.
As the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he started the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2003 with the main goal of attracting investors to Gujarat. From the Vibrant Gujarat Summit of 2003, the state received investment of ?37000 crore, in 2005 ?106000 crore, in 2007 ?465000 crore, in 2009, 2011 and 2013, the Government of Gujarat got ?1235000 crore, ?2083000 crore and ?4000000 crore respectively. When Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Gujarat was successful in achieving 11% per year growth in the agricultural sector for 10 consecutive years, which was the highest in the country. Gujarat’s GDP grew at an annual growth rate of around 10% in the period 2001 to 2014 under the able leadership of Narendra Modi. As per a report published in 2013, Gujarat was India’s best state in terms of economic freedom in terms of trade.
Narendra Modi was fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh as Prime Ministerial Candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections due to his popularity, experience and great personality. When Narendra Modi had to decide from where he would contest, he selected Varanasi (Banaras) as his parliamentry constituency. Narendra Modi knew importance of Uttar Pradesh. This decision created a wave of happiness not only in Uttar Pradesh but all over North India. This decision had a major impact on the 2014 Lok Sabha election result and Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of the country. Narendra Modi is the only and fortunate Prime Minister of India who took the oath of Prime Minister in front of his mother. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India who is the Prime Minister of the country for more than 6 years and 3 months. Earlier, this record was in the name of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had a tenure as Prime Minister of India for 6 years and 64 days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s main objective is Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. Ayushman Bharat Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, Maternity Scheme, Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Loan Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana, Beti Padhao Beti Bachao Yojana, Cleanliness Mission, to make all sections of the society self-reliant. Schemes like Smart City Scheme, Start Up India, Skill India, Digital India, Make in India are dedicated to the nation. The import of 101 defense equipment has been banned to make the country self-sufficient in the defense sector. All defense equipment will be manufactured by Indian companies, so that India will be self-sufficient in the field of defense. India is self-sufficient in terms of food grains. India has also become self-reliant in the health sector today.
The APMC Act has been drastically changed to make the farmers and laborers of the country self-reliant. 7 crore poor families have been provided with free gas cylinders. Foodgrains are being provided to 80 crore people for free. Direct cash transfer of 90 thousand crores has been done to poor families. To make the customers of the country self-reliant, the government has also implemented the Consumer Protection Act 2019 in the country, which has added many new provisions to strengthen the customers. Consumer Protection Act 2019 will make customers stronger and self-reliant.
There are plans to form economic clusters to make the rural area self-sufficient. Optical fiber has reached about 150000 gram panchayats. Within a few years, optical fiber will be reach to 600,000 villages. 110 aspirational districts of the country have been selected where efforts are being made to provide better education and employment. To make the farmers self-reliant and to develop modern infrastructure, an infrastructure infrastructure fund of Rs 1 lakh crore has been provided. Women, who constitute half the country’s population, are becoming self-sufficient. The landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in which daughters are given equal rights in paternal property will surely make women more self-reliant. More than 70% of the 25 crore Mudra loans have been given to women. Triple talaq have been liberated to alleviate the suffering of Muslim sisters. The women of the country have become self-sufficient. In a few days there is a possibility that the minimum age for marriage of girls can be increased from 18 to 21 years.
Economic and social reforms have been accelerated in the last 6 years. The National Education Policy 2020 will help in the all round development of students and youth. Environmental protection and corporate social responsibility are an important part of industrial policy today. The country has been successful in reducing imports and increasing exports. The terms of foreign capital investment were eased. Special attention is being given to the service sector. The growth of the service sector is imperative to make India a developed country. The country’s banks were integrated. More financial support has been arranged for small and medium industries. In the year 2018-19, more than 4600 crore digital transactions are being recorded in India. The country’s foreign exchange reserves exceeded $538 billion. Our GDP is close to $ 3.2 trillion. The country received a record $73 billion of foreign direct investment in the year 2019-20.
While the entire world is almost on the verge of being devastated by the Covid 19 pandemic crisis, it does not have any far-reaching impact on India’s economic situation. The United States, the financially most powerful country in the world, has only $ 132 billion in foreign exchange funds. India had a foreign exchange reserves of $400 billion in September 2017 which increased to $500 billion on 5 June 2020. Today the country has enough foreign exchange reserves from which the country can import for more than 18 months. Such a pleasant situation never occurred in the history of India. The country’s foreign exchange reserves of more than half a trillion dollars are a testimony to the country’s economic condition and the country’s continued economic development. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reign, the country has become completely self-sufficient in all areas.
A tea-seller can become a development-oriented world leader and India’s Prime Minister. Narendra Modi with his hard work, talent, dedication, tenacity, sacrifice and yearning to do something for the country has reached to this position. It will always make the country feel happy that an ordinary person can reach the important and highest position of the country like the Prime Minister on the strength of his personality. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s journey from Vadnagar to the globe will continue to inspire people for ages.
(The author is columnist, professor of Commerce, Political and Economic Analyst. He can be reached at [email protected])