Modi sets 1000-day deadline to power up India villages

Abu Dhabi, August 15 Excited over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s forthcoming visit to the UAE, hundreds of revellers infused energy into India’s Independence Day celebrations here, an official said on Saturday. “We can rid the country of corruption, we have to start from the top”, said Modi. “It can be done”.

He said there was no allegation of corruption against his government since he took office in May past year.

Accusing the Prime Minister and BJP of having different definitions of corruption for those in the party and outside, Congress leader Anand Sharma said, “I don’t know what the Prime Minister’s or BJP’s definition of corruption is”.

Frequently mopping his brow on a swelteringly hot day Modi said he had striven to enable 170 million people to open bank accounts for the first time under a government-run scheme. During the visit Mr Modi will also meet with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai. But now I want to tell you that Team India has new confidence. “Corruption is like a termite, it spreads slowly, reaches everywhere but it can be beaten with timely injections”. He acknowledged that the corruption is a termite, which needs bitter medicine, with possible side-effects, to cure. He also remarked that there are few people who are finding life tough for them following the new laws on black money.

He claimed that the “poison” of casteism and communalism could be fought with the “nectar of development” and said the people of this country would take it to new heights.

Unlike last year, when Modi used the ID speech to unveil several campaigns and programmes such as Make in India, Jan Dhan Yojana, Swach Bharat, and Digital India, this year’s speech didn’t focus on specific missions.

As per government’s pre-budget economic survey presented in Parliament February this year, government has maintained that India has already emerged as the fourth largest hub for start-ups.

While the previous government was faulted for causing a loss of Rs.176,000 crore by giving away coal blocks, his government conducted auctions in a transparent and time-bound manner and raised Rs.300,000 crore, Modi said.

“One year later, it seems that caution characterizes the Modi government’s performance just as enthusiasm had defined Modi’s election promises”, the Washington-based Hudson Institute said this week. “For the poor, the doors of banks were closed”. He sounded statesman-like when, speaking about electrifying 18,500 villages in the country within 1,000 days, he refrained from naming the states which had lagged behind on this count.

“We have succeeded in bringing it (the inflation) down from double digits to three to four percent despite the fact that rainfall was low and agriculture suffered”, Modi said in his Independence Day address from the ramparts of Red Fort. We introduced the “pradhanmantri beema yojna” and “atal pension yojna”, we did what we promised.

Former Defence Minister A K Antony accused the Prime Minister of going back on his commitment on “One Rank, One Pension”.

However, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif greeted India and said “good neighbourly relations” will benefit both New Delhi and Islamabad.