India has emerged as a global growth engine and is providing a new direction to the world, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said here on Saturday. He also said India has shown that there is no irreconcilable trade-off between growth and distributive justice.
Making these assertions at the 96th Annual General Meeting and Convention of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), he said the Indian growth story is the result of the hard work and ability of more than one billion Indians under the guiding leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Rajnath highlighted that the transformative policies and programmes of the government have powered the Indian growth story, various facets of which are shaping up the world of today.
“India has committed that its growth will not be at the cost of environmental degradation. We’ve chosen the path of green growth. We signed the Paris Agreement. We’ve formed the International Solar Alliance. We’ve taken initiatives to promote clean energy. We have also reduced the emission intensity of GDP,” he said.
Stressing that the economic growth must be gender neutral, Rajnath pointed out that the Government, under the Prime Minister’s leadership, has successfully changed the earlier narrative which credited the growth of the economy to the contribution made by men and men alone.
“Empowering women has been our priority. We’ve ensured that India’s economic, political, and social development takes place not just on the strength of men, but Nari Shakti too,” he said.
Enumerating the steps taken by the Ministry of Defence to empower women, the defence minister said “Girls are now studying in Sainik Schools, while women officers are being trained at the National Defence Academy. Women are now being appointed as fighter pilots, deployed on warships, and posted on forward posts across the border. In addition, a large number of young girls are joining the Armed Forces through Agnipath scheme.”
Rajnath highlighted another major aspect of India’s growth story and stated that the government has created a growth web across the country by decentralising the activities and taking them to far-flung areas.
He also listed out the initiatives and accomplishments undertaken by the government in the field of infrastructure development.
“We promoted infrastructure development in roads, airports and railways. Till 2014, India had 91,000 kilometres of national highways; today it has increased to about 1.5 lakh kilometres. While India had only 74 airports in 2014, today it has increased twofold. Through PM Gati Shakti Yojana and National Infrastructure Pipeline, we have planned infrastructure development worth up to Rs 100 lakh crore in the country,” he said.
He said the government is making all efforts to further strengthen India’s position as a growth engine. “But you know that the government cannot do this work alone. For that we also need the support of the wealth creators and thought leaders of this country,” he told the industry captains.
Rajnath said the industry leaders have a “special responsibility” to help the government write the next chapter of the “Indian growth story”.
“If India is the growth engine of the global economy then all of you wealth creators and thought leaders are the motor of that growth engine,” he said.
“Therefore, there is a special responsibility on all of you to help the government write the next chapter of the Indian growth story by integrating the needs of everyone from the engine to the last coach,” the defence minister added.
