If Narendra Modi’s pre-poll rallies highlighted BJP’s vision for inclusive development of the country, his maiden Independence Day address to the nation presented a blueprint for the same. Delivering his speech after unfurling the Tricolor for the first time from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi touched upon the basic issues of women safety, skill development of youth and social harmony, rather than making populist announcements on the 68th Independence Day.
He announced a financial inclusion scheme for the poor to open bank account with built-in insurance, development of model villages by MPs and launching of a scheme for the elimination of open defecation. He asked the corporates to work with the Government as part of their social responsibility to install toilets, including separate ones for girl students, in all schools by the next Independence Day.
Clad in a cream-white kurta with a saffron turban, Modi addressed the gathering of thousands without a bulletproof shield— the first leader to do so in recent years.
His 65-minute speech began with a thunderous applause as he described himself the ‘pradhan sevak’ and not the ‘pradhan mantri’. While socio-economic upliftment of the countrymen, particularly the poor, was key ingredient of his speech; women safety and their right to a dignified life found repeated mention during his address. While Modi lauded the efforts made during the brief tenure of his Government, including successful completion of the first session of the newly constituted 16th lok Sabha, he also made a special mention of the services rendered by his predecessors and former Governments for the country’s development.
Notwithstanding the fact that his party (BJP) enjoyed clear majority in the lok Sabha, the Prime Minister declared that he would like to run the country on the basis of consensus and not on majority in Parliament. He also denounced casteism and communal violence. “We see violence on the basis of religion and caste. How long will this continueIJ Who is benefiting from thisIJ We have fought enough, killed enough. If you look back, you will find that nobody has gained anything.... It took us to even partition. I appeal that for the sake of country’s progress, there should be a 10-year moratorium on violence, at least for once, so that we are free from these ills,” Modi said.
He cited instances from Nepal where extremists shunned violence after a decade-long armed struggle to join the political mainstream. He appealed to the misguided youth who have taken to terrorism and Naxalism to shed violence and return to the path of peace and progress.
Modi announced a scheme ‘MP Model Village Scheme’ under which each Member of Parliament will adopt one village and develop it by 2016, equipping it with all facilities like electricity, water and roads. “By 2019, before you go to polls, at least five model villages would have been made,” Modi said, adding he would unveil the complete blueprint of the scheme on October 11, the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan.
The Prime Minister also announced launching ‘Pradhan Manrti Jan Dhan Yojna’ for financial security of the poor.
Growing incidents of rape and skewing sex ratio in country were another focus of his speech. While Modi sought to put moral responsibility for the rapes, he appealed to the medical fraternity to stop female foeticide for the sake of money. “In every home, parents ask daughters many questions as to where she is going and what she is doing. But do they ask the same thing to their sonsIJ Rapists are also somebody’s sons. He also has parents. If only restrictions are also put on sons, there will be no rapists, no Maoists and no terrorists. law will do its work but the society too has to contribute,” he said.
Calling himself an “outsider” to Delhi, Modi said in two months of coming to power, he has got an “insider view” in the functioning of the Government. Making it clear that his comments should be not be seen from a political prism, Modi said he was “surprised” to see that “within a government, there were dozens of governments.”
Referring to media reports about Government employees reporting to work on time since the BJP-led NDA came to power, the Prime Minister said he should have been happy but he felt pained that such things were making news. He also unveiled his thinking on boosting economy by saying India should become a manufacturing power with a huge resource of digitally-capable and skilled youth. “Come, Make in India,” he said while inviting global companies to enter the manufacturing sector in this country. He emphasised that “zero defect” in quality and “zero effect” on environment should be the hallmark of “Made in India” brand products.