Modi unfurls Start-up India

Giving a new slogan of “Start-up India, Stand up India” for “Team India” during his 85-minute-long Independence Day address from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pledged to end the “termite of corruption” and announced that undeclared foreign assets worth Rs6,500 crore have been disclosed since framing of a tough black money law and the drive will continue despite “side-effects.” The Prime Minister said that it is like a termite infection and needs a holistic effort to put an end to it. 

Responding to Opposition criticism on dealing with corruption and black money, Modi said, “Some people love to spread pessimism. It is like an addiction. They cannot get sleep without it. For them, there is no meaning for programmes and initiatives. They keep on saying that nothing is happening, nothing is visible.” Though he did not name anybody, his remarks assume significance as Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had only last week in Parliament asked what had been done on the black money issue.

“There is a lot of talk in our country about corruption. It is like a sick person giving suggestions to others on how to remain healthy. There are people who are themselves corrupt, who give suggestions on how to deal with corruption,” the Prime Minister said. “Giving suggestions to each other is also an art. I want to give an account today. We have not shown our commitment to fighting corruption by addressing Press conferences. We are working on the ground. We have shown results,” he said. He said corruption had become a part of the system and “contractors were running the nation”. 

Reiterating his Govern-ment’s stand on corruption and its clean image, he said that in the last 15 months of his Government, no accusation of corruption, even of a single paisa, has been made. About black money, he said that steps were being taken to bring it back to India and that his Government has passed a stringent law against stashing of money abroad. Claiming that discussions were on to bring back the money that is already stashed abroad, which may happen soon, he added, “But in the meantime, at least we have ensured that no black money can now be sent outside our country.”

He spoke about a number of initiatives to end corruption and bring in transparency and proposed doing away with the practice of conducting interviews for small jobs, contending that this becomes a route for corruption. “One form of corruption is through jobs... Why should there be an interviewIJ I am yet to come across any psychologist who can assess anybody in two minutes (of interview). I have to stop this bimari (practice)... let us end the requirement of an interview for small jobs immediately,” he said, adding he would make a request to States also in this regard.

In a first for August 15, the Prime Minister did not touch upon foreign policy, despite his numerous trips, and focussed wholly on domestic issues. There was no mention of India’s neighbours, even Pakistan. Dressed in a cream kurta, pyjama, beige jacket and mustard turban,  Modi announced in his second Independence Day address that his Government was determined to build a new India, including providing electricity to 18,500 villages in the next 1,000 days. 

Modi also made it clear that there was no place for casteism and communalism in India.

For employment of the youth, the Prime Minister announced an initiative called ‘Start-up India, Stand-up India’ that aims to link the Government’s financial packages for the industry with employment for the youth.He said each of the 1.25 lakh bank branches should encourage at least one tribal or Dalit as also one woman in their area in becoming an entrepreneur. 

“We are looking at systems for enabling start-ups. We must be number one in start-ups... Start-up India, Stand up India,” he said, adding the initiative would give a new dimension to entrepreneurship and help in setting up a network of start-ups in the country. He also said that a package of incentives, including loans, will be given to manufacturing units for generating jobs for locals, as a push to “Make in India” programme. 

He also announced a special scheme for tribal areas where mining of minerals is quite prevalent saying that Rs 6,000 crore will be spent on them every year.

Announcing an initiative for farmers he said so far our rural policies have been directed at agriculture because of which the Ministry is also called the Ministry of Agriculture. “But from now on, it will be called Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare because now it would work not only for betterment of agricultural practices, but will also link it to farmer welfare,” he said.

While last year during his Independence Day speech, Modi had made what seemed to be some path-breaking announcements like Jan Dhan Yojana, Swachchh Bharat Abhiyaan, Digital India and Make-in-India Campaign, this year, it was more about how far those initiatives have been implemented and how much they benefited the people.

Modi repeatedly talked about “Team India” consisting of 125 crore Indians who, he said, were responsible for all the achievements during the last 15 months. “If we run the nation in partnership with these 125 crore citizens, with each step they take, our nation will move ahead 125 crore steps,” he said.Talking about last year’s big idea Jan Dhan Yojana, Modi said: “Years after Independence, even after several banks being nationalised, 40 per cent of the people in our country didn’t have bank accounts. We made a pledge to bring every citizen into the fold of the financial system.”

He added that “Team India” set a deadline of January 26 for the same. “I am proud to say that we fulfilled our pledge in time and over 17 crore accounts were opened,” he said.Modi also talked about Atal Pension Yojana, Suraksha Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana.“The point is not that we made policies and launched schemes. Every Government does that. What matters is the implementation. And in a nation where even 40-year-old schemes are able to reach only five crore to seven crore people, over ten crore citizens registered for our insurance schemes in barely 100 days. And ten crore individual registrations mean that over ten crore families must be benefiting from them,” he said.

Talking about Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan, Modi said that everyone took the responsibility of cleaning the nation without criticism. “I congratulate all of them. But most of all, the biggest contributor to this initiative were children. They became the biggest ambassadors of Swachchh Bharat and the success of this initiative is because of them. I bow my head to them and thank them for their support,” he said.

He added that when he talked about building toilets, many people wondered why he was talking about building toilets during the Independence Day address. “But many surveys have proved it is of utmost importance. Over the year, we have built 4.25 lakh toilets in 2,62,000 schools which seemed like an impossible task when we started. The credit goes to Team India which made it possible,” he said.