Pace of Reforms Improving Quality of Life, Says Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The need of the hour is Surajya or qualitative change in the lives of India’s citizens, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised, Prime Minister Modi said, addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of India’s 70th Independence Day. The pace of reforms over the last two years has taken India in that direction, Modi said.

He re-emphasised his slogan of good governance, saying accountability and responsibility are key to attain this. The government is seeking to change the situation where people are scared of income tax authorities, particularly among the middle class families, Modi said. Here are the other key highlights from his speech.

1. Controlling Inflation

Modi backed the new inflation target of 4 percent as he vowed to keep food inflation under check and ensure that the food plate of the poor does not become expensive. His government has not allowed the rate of price rise to cross 6 percent as opposed to the double digit inflation during previous government, he added.

Modi backed the 4 percent inflation target, within a range of 2 percentage points either way, set for the next five years under the monetary policy framework agreement with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

“We have entered into an agreement with the Reserve Bank that the RBI will take steps towards controlling inflation in the range of 4 percent, plus/minus 2 percent. So that they rise above the debate and work for balancing inflation and growth,” he said.

2. Reform, Perform, Transform

The prime minister emphasised in his over 90 minute address to the nation that his government is working on the principle of Reform, Perform and Transform. Efforts are being made in every sector and the government is giving importance to ‘last man delivery’.

The government has successfully connected 70 crore citizens with the Aadhaar scheme and various other social security schemes. Nearly 4 crore underprivileged families have been given LPG connections in the last 7 months alone, Modi said.

3. One Nation...

Modi said the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will replace a raft of different central and state levies, will strengthen growth efforts and make economy more predictable. Modi credited all political parties for passing a Constitutional amendment in the just concluded monsoon session of Parliament to bring a single unified value added tax system to turn the country into world’s biggest single market.

“GST (Bill), which has been passed recently, will further strengthen the way we are trying to accelerate growth and make the economy predictable,” he said in his address to the nation. All political parties need to be thanked for that, he said. GST, he said, is a tax that will bring equitable regime and turn the country into one market.

Modi also touched upon the reforms undertaken in the power sector. He said his government has been able to bring down the price of power purchased by states by implementing ‘One Nation, One Grid, One Price’ for states deficit in power and purchasing power through power exchanges.

4. Renewable Energy Push

The prime minister stressed on the need to focus on renewable energy. The government’s emphasis on non-polluting renewable energy has meant that generation from wind has gone up by 40 percent in last one year and that from solar by as much as 16 percent, Modi pointed out.

“This is not an incremental change but a high jump. We want to increase to quantum jump,” he said, adding, laying of transmission lines, to transport electricity from production sites to consumption centres, has been expedited to 50,000 km per year from previous 30,000-35,000 km.

The commissioning of rail lines has been increased to 3,500 km in the last two years from just 1,500 km 10 years ago, Modi said.

5. Other Government Initiatives

Modi announced that nearly 80,000 villages have benefitted from the Swacch Bharat initiatives. He said the government is on target to electrify 18,000 villages within 1000 days and nearly 10,000 villages have already been connected with electricity in less than 500 days.

6. National Healthcare Insurance

Noting that costly healthcare facilities were wiping away the finances of the poor, Modi announced that government will bear healthcare expenses of up to Rs 1 lakh annually of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

Modi said the entire economy of a poor household gets hit when somebody falls ill and this scheme will ensure that such families are not deprived of healthcare benefits. “...the government has come out with a significant scheme for people living Below Poverty Line (BPL). In the future, if such families have to take medical facilities, the government will bear expenditure upto Rs 1 lakh for a year, so that my poor brothers are not deprived of healthcare facilities and their dreams are not shattered,” he added.

7. Qatar LNG Renegotiations

Modi said his government was able to renegotiate LNG contract with Qatar. The country was bound by the previous contract till 2024, but his ministry was able to renegotiate the contract and save Rs 20,000 crore in LNG bill.

8. Health of PSUs

Modi spoke about the improvement in the health of the public sector companies, in the last two years. The national carrier, Air India is now operationally profitable, he pointed out, while the national telecom service provider, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) is turned around and Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has turned in profits.

9. Relief for Uttar Pradesh Farmers

Modi took time in his speech to highlight how his government helped resolve the cane arrears for the farmers of Uttar Pradesh. 99.5 percent of the arrears for the previous years have been paid to the farmers, while 95 percent of the payment for the current crop have already been paid, Modi said.

The government is also working towards removing archaic laws and regulations, Modi mentioned in his speech. His government has already repealed 1,175 out of nearly 1,700 laws and regulations that needs to be repealed, Modi said.