Union Minister of Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the NDA government has taken important decisions in different areas with such effectiveness that it is seen rarely in the history of our democratic nation. It was after 30 years that a party was given strong parliamentary majority on May 26, 2014. The citizens of the nation has considered Modi as the man of development and given the power of change in his hands and he has proven that he is the right person, he added.
While talking to ‘The Pioneer’, Tomar said that at a time when the NDA government completes two years in office on May 26, it would be apt to discuss the steps taken by the government in public interest and national interest, different schemes and programs started by the government, what is the level of their execution and how far the government has reached in fulfilling their promises.
Regarding Digital India Mission of the Union government, T9omar said that on August 21, 2014 the NDA government initiated Digital India Mission, through which Modi intended to improvise the nation’s economy, connecting to an electronic system. “This system in place the reach of the government and their schemes will be far deep among the citizens. The paper works has reduced and its benefit can be reaped by the poor villagers as well and the government has aimed to complete this Digital India Mission by 2019,” he added.
The government also started Make in India mission that was intended to generate employment opportunities and develop the nation’s economic system. Under this mission the government has spotted 25 such places that have got the ability to stand among the world class markets, he added.
The Minister said that the Prime Minister, under the financial inclusion Jandhan scheme, has opened 21.81 crore bank accounts and each account holder there is an insurance cover of Rs one lakh. Under this scheme more than Rs 37,616 crore has been deposited. Under the Mudra bank scheme more than 3.78 crore small scale entrepreneurs have been granted more than Rs 1, 37, 000 crore as loan. More than 1, 41, 000 crore has already been distributed as loan, he added. “The prime Minister has come out with an innovative scheme- Swatch Bharat Campaign, which was need of the hour. This has not only become successful in the nation, but became a topic of discussion worldwide,” he added.
The government under Modi’s leadership has pledged to accomplish this mission by Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birthday in 2019, said Tomar, adding that under this mission people are being made aware of the importance of hygiene and construction of toilets are being given at most importance.
Tomar further said, “looking at the track record of the NDA government in past two years it can be known that the production of household items has increased from 6.3 per cent to 7.6 per cent. At present the nation has 350 billion American dollars in our treasury. There has been an increase in the inflow of foreign investment in the financial years 2014-15 and 2015-16 and in the service sector in the financial year 2015-16 there has been a record breaking increase of 74.7 per cent. This suggests that India has become a center of investment among the world investors.”
He stated that in the mining sector to deal with the slowing down, illegal mining, lack of transparency and inadequacy of regulated framework the central government made amendment of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) [MMDR] Act 1957. Because of this act only through auction, mineral concession can be allotted. The process will be simplified through this Act. As a result there has been an increase in the Mineral produces in year 2015-16 by 9 per cent. To encourage the search for minerals a National Mineral Search trust has been formed.” The government has also started Operation Mineral Search project to discover minerals hidden deep. Under the Prime Minister Mineral Area Welfare Scheme people of the area where the minerals are being mined will be developed, he added.
He further said that in spite of depression in the mining sector around the world, India has shown increase not only in the production, but also in the consumption in the year 2015. In January 2015 India came third in the world leaving behind America in Mining sector.
At Centre, when other governments were in power claimed to work towards uplifting the poor but none other than NDA government worked towards it, he added.