PM sets 10-year deadline to end ‘Slave Mentality’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged people to completely rid the country of the slave mentality in the next 10 years, asserting that every sector today is shedding the colonial mindset and aiming for new achievements with pride. He also said the term Hindu rate of growth was used when India was struggling for 2-3 per cent growth.

“The policy of Macaulay, which sowed the seeds of mental slavery in India, will complete 200 years in 2035. This means there are 10 years left. Therefore, in these very 10 years, we all must come together to free our country from the slave mentality,” he said.

“Linking the growth of the country with the faith of its people, with their identity... This was the symbol of the mindset of colonialism,” he said, addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. An attempt was made to prove that the reason for India’s slow growth was Hindu culture, Modi said. “Today’s intellectuals who keep searching for communalism in all things did not see communalism in the use of the term Hindu rate of growth. This term was made part of books and research papers during their time,” he said.

Asserting that India is a model of high growth and low inflation, he said the country’s 8.2 per cent growth in the second quarter of this fiscal year shows that it is becoming the growth driver of the global economy.

Modi said that at a time when the world is full of uncertainties, India is seen in a different league. The changes happening in India are not just about possibilities but are a saga of changing thinking and direction, he said.

“We are standing at a juncture where one fourth of the 21st century has passed. The world has seen many ups and downs: financial crisis, global pandemic, technological disruptions, world falling apart. We are seeing wars; these situations, in one way or another other are challenging the world,” Modi said.

The world is full of uncertainties, but India is being seen in a different league altogether, he said. “India is full of self-confidence. When there is talk of a slowdown, India writes the story of growth. When there is a trust deficit in the world, India is becoming a pillar of trust; when the world is moving towards fragmentation, India is becoming a bridge builder,” Modi said.

Pointing out Q2 GDP figures being more than 8 per cent, he said it is the symbol of our pace. “This is not just a number but is a strong macroeconomic signal. It is a message that India is becoming the growth driver of the global economy,” Modi said.

Global growth is around 3 per cent while G7 economies are growing at an average of about 1.5 per cent, he pointed out. “At such a time, India is a model of high growth and low inflation,” Modi said.

There was a time when people, especially economists in our country, used to express concern over high inflation, but the same people now talk of inflation being low, he said in his address. India’s achievements are not ordinary; it is not about numbers but about fundamental change brought about in the last decade, Modi asserted.