An outreach to the country’s youth, a reiteration of his commitment to reforms, and detailing the contours of the government’s ‘Sapta Dhara’ (seven-pronged strategy) to create jobs for the youth were the leitmotifs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 13th Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Saturday.
The imprint of July’s ‘Gen Z’ protests was evident on the PM’s speech to mark the 80th Independence Day. Modi repeatedly exhorted the “yuva Shakti” (youth power) to become agents of change, promising that the government will do its utmost to create opportunities for them and that they will be the biggest labharthi, or beneficiaries, of India’s march toward becoming a developed country by 2047.
The PM listed the achievements of the last 12 years, reminding how in 2014 “the entire world had dumped us among the Fragile Five.”
The PM spoke of the increased importance of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India). He listed the government’s plans to set up eight semiconductor plants over the next seven to eight years. He spoke of the steps being taken to access critical minerals and ensure energy security, including setting up five new nuclear reactors within this decade.
Modi said: “Some people sitting in air-conditioned chambers” wondered what would happen to globalisation. He said that the world had stopped talking about globalisation, and every nation has turned its focus to addressing its own specific challenges. But some countries have weaponised resources, such as petrol, diesel, fertilisers, medicines, and technology chips, even territory itself.
He urged India’s MSMEs to take advantage of the free trade agreements the country has signed with nearly 40 countries, and produce goods that are globally competitive.
Modi said the work, which has not been done in the last five-seven decades, now needs to be done in the coming five-seven years. He said the country has to take the pace of reforms forward. “Reform is neither a compulsion for us, nor is reform a buzzword for us, this reform of ours is a conviction out of conviction.”
Detailing his vision for Sapta Dhara, the PM said it will fully harness the potential of the country’s youth power.
In Sapta Dhara, Modi said the country needed to significantly advance its manufacturing sector, move forward in the direction of food processing, focus on technology and innovation, work on seamless and fast connectivity across the country, achieve self-reliance in defence production, including next generation defence technologies, pay attention to the green economy, blue economy, which also create green jobs, and leverage India’s soft power, including yoga, and its traditional holistic healthcare system.
The PM said that 50 Indian corporations should be in the Fortune 500 companies within the next decade. For this to happen, the Centre, state governments, and the institutions of local self-government must accelerate the pace of their reforms.
He said the youth power of the country will be the greatest beneficiary as well as the greatest driving force of these efforts. Modi spoke of the expansion of universities, and the government’s plan to train 10 million young people in AI skills in the next one year, and provide free online coaching for those preparing for various examinations.
Modi also urged all the political parties to help implement 33 per cent representation in the Legislative Assemblies and the Lok Sabha as soon as possible.
