New Delhi: As Prime Minister, Narendra Modi delivered his sixth independence day speech Thursday. Delivering a 92-minute speech, the PM touched upon a range of issues from Article 370 and triple talaq to India’s water crisis.
Since he assumed office, PM Modi’s Independence Day speeches have been as much a road map for the year ahead as a statement of achievements from the year gone by. And this year was no different. The PM talked not just about the success of his schemes like Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana but also reinforced his government’s commitment to providing clean drinking water to every household in the coming days.
He also urged the people to contribute towards making India free from single-use plastic.
ThePrint takes a look at the highlights of PM Modi’s Independence Day speech today and those from previous years.
2014
This was Modi’s first I-Day address as prime minister, and came less than 100 days after he was elected with a thumping majority.
In a speech that clocked in at an hour and five minutes, he urged people to work for the welfare of India, especially the poor and the oppressed, and expressed concern about continued casteism and gender bias.
On a note of gratitude, he recalled how the architects of the Constitution had given India a framework where a tea-seller from a poor family could become PM.
He went on to acknowledge the contribution of former prime ministers in India’s rise. Modi promised to take the country forward, on the basis of consensus and not majority politics, and urged Maoists to give up arms and join the mainstream.
Swachh Bharat and Jan Dhan Yojana were announced, as were Skill India, to equip people with skills for employability, and Make in India, to boost domestic manufacturing.
2015
In a speech that ran into 86 minutes, he invoked the spirit of ‘Team India’ 34 times.
He hailed the performance of the Jan Dhan Yojana, besides announcing multiple schemes for the economically marginalised. Since 2015 was a bad year for monsoon, he announced the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana to ensure farmers get adequate resources for irrigation.
The Ministry of Agriculture was renamed “Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare”.
To tackle the issue of unemployment and to encourage a startup culture, he announced ‘Startup India’, with a special appeal for Dalit, tribal and women entrepreneurs to come forward.
He concluded his speech by pledging shelter and electricity to everyone by 2022.
2016
This speech was even longer, at 96 minutes, and included a call for India to move from “swaraj (self-governance)”, the rallying cry for freedom fighters, to “surajya (good governance)”.
Under his government, he claimed, tax refunds were being returned in one to three weeks, as opposed to the months-long process it was earlier. The number of people applying for passports had increased, he said.
PM Modi took credit for reducing the time it takes to register a company to 24 hours, while hailing his government’s efforts vis-a-vis rural road construction and renewable energy production.
He declared Swachh Bharat a success, saying it had led to the construction of two crore toilets built, and claimed 10,000 villages had been electrified.
The Ujjwala scheme to end Indian households’ dependence on coal-fired stoves was announced, as was the government’s decision to increase maternity leave to 26 weeks. The goods and services tax, launched less than two months before, was strengthening the economy, he added.
He asked Maoist youth to give up arms and join the mainstream. He thanked the people of Balochistan, Gilgit, and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for the gratitude they had shown towards him — a mention seen as a message to Pakistan since Balochistan is home to a separatist movement.
2017
Clocking in at 56 minutes, the speech sought to emphasise Modi’s vision of ‘New India’, and the PM urged citizens to junk the ‘chalta hai (anything goes)’ attitude for ‘badal sakta hai (it can be changed)’.
The confiscation of benami property, rural electrification, and Jan Dhan leaps were among the government initiatives hailed.
Among other things, PM Modi said the solution to the Kashmir problem lay in embracing Kashmiris.
He mentioned his controversial demonetisation initiative, and noted that Indians had shown patience and faith in its aftermath.
He announced the Institute of Eminence scheme, under which 20 institutes are to be identified for cultivation as world-class institutes.
2018
The 83-minute long speech was the last I-Day address of PM Modi’s first term, and was thus crafted as a report card of his government.
The 2016 surgical strikes against terror launch pads was mentioned, as was GST, and his government’s work towards building toilets, electrification, and strengthening the Indian passport.
He emphasised the development work his government had done in the northeast. Most importantly, he announced the launch date for his government’s ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan that envisages health insurance for the poor, besides promising permanent commission for women officers of the armed forces short service commission.
The base for direct taxes had widened from 4 crore to almost 6.75 crore under his government, he said.
He promised to introduce the triple talaq bill in Parliament, and also pointed out how government and citizen efforts had allowed the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Meghalaya and Tripura.
Also read: All the PM’s pagdis: What Modi’s Independence Day turbans say about him
2019
Among the most important features of the PM’s speech Thursday was its focus on not just the economy but also ecology. While Modi mentioned the word ‘economy’ 16 times in his speech, the word ‘water’ was mentioned as many as 29 times. He also quoted Saint Thiruvalluvar to stress on the importance of water conservation.
The words ‘dreams’ and ‘forward’ also found considerable mention, indicating the importance he attaches to making the countrymen believe that they have a collective glorious road ahead.
A comparison
Here’s how Modi’s speeches compare with those of his immediate predecessor Manmohan Singh and the previous BJP PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Mention of Pakistan and Kashmir
Vajpayee’s speeches had more mentions of Pakistan and Kashmir than Modi’s and Singh’s.
Length of Independence Day speeches
Modi’s Independence Day speeches have been roughly two to three times longer than Vajpayee’s and Singh’s.
Over the last five years, PM Modi’s Independence Day speeches have had 7840.4 words on average. The word count of Singh’s I-Day speeches was exactly half — 3684.6 per speech. Vajpayee’s came to about 2998.4 words.
Also read: Why India’s prime ministers give their Independence day speech from Delhi’s Red Fort