In his second Independence Day address from the ramparts of Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made clear that whether it was the goal of ending corruption in the country or electrifying 18, 500 more villages, it could not be done without the efforts of Team India, the country's 1.25 billion people.
Disappointing ex-servicemen, a core constituency of the BJP, he said that though negotiations for granting One Rank, One Pension were at the last stage, justice had to be done to all sections of the population. The result: immediately after his speech ended, angry ex-servicemen said that they were not beggars, they were just demanding their rights.
Ex-servicemen held a press conference at Jantar Mantar after PM Modi's I-day speech. Rejecting Mr Modi's in-principle acceptance of OROP scheme, the protestors announced that the stir will be intensified from tomorrow.
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Photo: Prashant Nakwe
The ex-servicemen staging a black flag protest against the PM speech. Photo: Prashant Nakwe
Media pundits creating atmosphere of gloom: PM
If the glow of newly acquired power had marked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first Independence Day speech a year ago, when he had set out his vision for the country and had spoken of ruling through consensus, his address to the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort on Saturday was tinged with disappointment.
Mr. Modi made a brief, veiled attack on media pundits and political rivals who were criticising his government and creating an atmosphere of gloom and pessimism. Despite his foreign policy forays, he did not touch on the subject at all.
Possibly with an eye on the Bihar Assembly elections, the Prime Minister spoke at length on having fulfilled some of the promises he made a year ago — constructing toilets in schools, fulfilling financial inclusion targets through the opening of 170 million Jan Dhan Yojana bank accounts and launching insurance and pension schemes. He laid emphasis on ending poverty, and of using the “riches” of those at the bottom of the economic pyramid to build the country.
He spoke of fighting the “poison” of casteism and the “madness” of communalism.
Fighting corruption
Mr. Modi touched on the issue of corruption, without referring to the allegations made against members of his party. But he hinted that he alone could not end it. Corruption, he said, was like an attack of termites that had to be systematically fought, square inch by square inch, by the entire population. In this connection, he said auctions of public resources such as coal, doing away with subjective job interviews, wherever possible, and direct bank transfers of subsidies for the needy would help check graft.
Ministry renamed
Indicating a change in emphasis, Mr. Modi renamed the Ministry of Agriculture as the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, while stressing that the government would work to raise farm productivity and increase areas under irrigation to ensure “per drop, more crop”. Addressing the “neo-middle classes”, the aspirational class, he had targeted during last year’s general elections, Mr. Modi referred to all those who could now move from coal stoves to LPG cylinders, thanks to his “Give it up” appeal to those who did not need the LPG subsidy.