New Delhi, Aug 15 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged political parties to rise above differences to help secure 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures, called on the youth to take the lead in building a developed India, and warned that armed Naxalism has been eliminated but “dimagi Naxals” still lurked.
In his 13th consecutive Independence Day address to the nation, next only to 17 by Jawaharlal Nehru in a row, Modi sought to rally parties and young Indians around his Viksit Bharat 2047 vision while laying out a roadmap for India’s economic and strategic rise through what he described as seven streams, or “saptadharas”, of development.
Reaching out to the youth in a big way from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the country’s 80th Independence Day, weeks after widespread student protests over paper leaks and irregularities in exams, he made a series of announcements — free online coaching for competitive exams, AI training for one crore youth, a sports talent hunt and a vibrant civil defence network. He also listed opportunities for them in areas ranging from manufacturing, space and nuclear to semiconductors.
He referred to the youth more than 50 times in the course of his 75-minute speech.
The prime minister cautioned the world community against attempts to weaponise resources such as strategic sea routes. On the domestic front, he talked about wars now being fought beyond borders and over strategic national resources and pitched for creating a vibrant civil defence network to replace obsolete systems of the past.
Modi reiterated his call for taking Indian companies to the global high table, saying there should be at least 50 Indian firms on the Fortune 500 list of the world’s biggest corporations and the country must have presence in top five lists across sectors like banks and pharma.
He also asserted that the Centre, states and all other stakeholders have a role to play in speeding up reforms.
Days after a near washout of the Monsoon session of Parliament, he called for setting aside political wrangling to ensure implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, saying all must venerate women power.
A delimitation-linked constitution amendment bill for this had failed in the budget session earlier this year and it could not even come up during the recently concluded session.
“”I urge all political parties to come forward in implementing the women reservation bill and honour them. They should also take credit for its passage and contribute, but give that right to our women,” he said.
It was, he stressed, the need of the hour.
Sporting a traditional tie-and-dye red turban, popular in Rajasthan and Gujarat, Modi listed seven streams (‘saptadharas’) — manufacturing, power, agriculture and food processing, technology and innovation, gatishakti, defence power, green economy and blue economy, and soft power — to drive India forward and take the nation to greater heights.
The day had its own share of controversies too.
While the opposition took a jibe at the prime minister for what they described as a reverse sequence of tricolour in his pocket squares, the BJP hit out at the Congress for the absence of its leaders and for what they called the insult of “Vande Mataram” at its own Independence Day programme.
For the first time, the full six stanzas of the national song was rendered during the celebrations at the Red Fort. An Army band played the tune of “Vande Mataram” as the guests present on the occasion sang the national song. This was followed by the prime minister unfurling the national flag, and then the singing of the national anthem.
The prime minister received the guard of honour from the personnel of the three armed services.
In his speech, Modi also paid homage to all freedom fighters and took a few names, including that of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and remembered their sacrifices. Earlier in the morning, he paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial in Raj Ghat.
In his address, the prime minister pitched for making India a global hub for defence manufacturing, placing special emphasis on self-reliance in advanced capabilities such as hypersonic technology and drone systems.
On the education sector, he struck an emotive note while highlighting how coaching classes had become a burden for the poor and middle class. “Keeping the concerns of poor and middle class families in mind, we want to help save them the thousands of crores of rupees they spend on coaching. Our young people should be able to stay close to their families, receive their care, and avoid placing an additional financial burden on them,” he said while announcing free online coaching for competitive exams.
Referring to the successes achieved in the government’s fight against the Naxals, Modi said for years individuals harbouring Maoist ideologies had entrenched themselves within the corridors of power in the country and through their roles as advisors on government committees.
This “Maoist mindset”, he said, had influenced policy making.
“We have succeeded in eliminating armed Naxals from the forests and liberating the nation from that crisis. However, while armed Naxals are gone, ‘dimagi’ (intellectual) Naxals are lurking around,” he said.
While the prime minister has earlier talked about ‘urban Naxals’, the new coinage sparked a buzz with some translating it as ‘mental Naxals’ and others as ‘people with Naxal mindset’.
According to Modi, India needed to strengthen domestic capacity in critical areas, including energy and minerals, as geopolitical tensions increasingly exposed the risks of dependence on external sources.
He also said India has taken a step towards becoming self-reliant in the nuclear power sector, with the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, attaining criticality this year.
“Energy security is today’s need, and that’s why we have already taken steps in this direction. We have passed the SHANTI Act in Parliament and set a target of achieving 100 GW nuclear power by 2047,” he said. India has also set a target of setting up five new nuclear reactors.
The prime minister alleged that some attempted to weaponise resources, strategic sea routes in the middle of the West Asia war, Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Covid-19 pandemic to assert their dominance.
“There was a time when I spoke of self-reliance, and people sitting in air-conditioned chambers asked what would happen to globalisation. But the world has seen that over the past decade, the talk of globalisation has fallen silent. Every nation has turned toward its own interests.
“Unfortunately, during this crisis period, some played the game of weaponising resources to show off their dominance… weaponising petrol, diesel, fertilisers, medicines, tech chips, and even geography. If we had not followed the mantra of self-reliance in the right direction over the last 10 years, imagine how we would have firmly tackled such challenges. Our preparations continue to grow,” he said.
The prime minister also made a specific appeal to the youth to play an active role in the ongoing Census 2027 by helping their families fill “accurate information” digitally.
Highlighting his government’s efforts to pull out the economy from the category of “fragile five”, Modi said India has finalised free trade agreements (FTAs) with about 40 countries since 2014, presenting a tremendous opportunity for the country’s MSMEs. He urged small enterprises to tap these opportunities and not let the chance slip away.
The prime minister also announced plans to modernise the civil defence volunteer force, saying a system developed in response to conventional wars fought in past was no longer adequate when attacks could target refineries, banks, data centres and other critical infrastructure inside the country.
“In these changing times, we have to increase the capability of our armed forces, but at the same time we must also prepare our citizens,” he said. PTI TEAM BJ MIN MIN
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