New Delhi:
For its development, India needs a movement akin to the freedom movement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.
"Similar to the freedom movement, we need a movement for development, where the collective aspirations propel the country's growth," Modi said, addressing a media conclave in Delhi via video link.
"We all should get involved in our dream of a new India, whose mantra will be 'opportunity for all' and an India of self-respect. "For several decades, we had embarked in wrong directions with wrong policies," Modi said.
"The decisions then were 'election-driven' or based on set notions of the officials, but this has changed now," he said. His government is not looking (at issues facing the country) with "tunnel vision" but with "total vision," said the Prime Minister.
Referring to India Today Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie remark describing him as the "disruptor-in-chief," the PM said, "If there is a disruptor-in-chief, it is not Modi but the people of India who are entitled to this moniker."
On merits of the democracy, the Prime Minister said, "Bigger than the strength of the government is the people's power."
Dwelling on 'the fast pace of development work' after his government came to power, Modi said, "Our government made efforts to provide electricity to 12,000 villages which were without power for so many years even after the Independence." Work on village electrification is in progress in a transparent manner, Modi said.
"We brought changes to ensure that shopkeepers can keep shops open longer and this gives better economic opportunities to them," he said.
Modi also spoke of "the increased pace of work" in the railways and road sectors. "Next generation infrastructure is our focus area. We have deployed significant resources for railway and road sectors.
"By merging railway budget with the general budget we have ensured faster growth of not only the railways but the overall transport sector," he said. A roadmap has been prepared to make health-care accessible to everyone in the country, the PM said.
India is now among the top economies in the world, he said, citing India's ranking in the World Economic Forum. "Make in India' is our biggest initiative. India is today the world's sixth largest manufacturer," the Prime Minister said.
Speaking about his government's measures to do away with redundant laws and practices, Modi said, "Earlier the Union budget used to be presented at 5pm. This was because during the British rule it would be morning in London, the time when their Parliament began. But in Atal-ji's (Atal Bihari Vajpayee's) tenure this practise was changed.
