AMN / WEB DESK

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Government is focussing on the empowerment of the poor so that they can contribute to national development. Addressing the Economic Times Global Business Summit in New Delhi Friday, Mr Modi said, the government re-imagined how to improve welfare delivery to the poor.

He said, his government has given pucca houses to three crore poor families in the last nine years, which reflects the government’s dedication for the upliftment of the poor. Mr Modi said, the government has so far transferred 28 lakh crore rupees under the Direct Benefit Transfer, with zero leakage.

Prime Minister said, better infrastructure is needed for the rapid growth of the country, therefore the government reimagined infrastructure building as a grand strategy. He said, PM Gatishakti National Master Plan is not only giving speed to the construction of infrastructure but also giving emphasis to area development and people development. Mr Modi said, highways are being built in the country at a speed of 38 kilometer per day and more than five kilometres of rail lines are being built daily. He said, today, India has put a new model of physical and social infrastructure development in front of the whole world.

Taking an example of the government’s concept of re-imagination, Mr Modi said, more than one hundred districts which were considered very backward in 2014 were turned into aspirational districts. He said, the sanitation coverage in rural areas of the country at that time was less than 40 percent which has now reached 100 percent under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

The Prime Minister said, today India’s prosperity is the world’s prosperity and India’s growth is the world’s growth. He emphasised that the theme of One World, One Family, One Future chosen for G-20 contains solutions to many challenges of the world. Mr Modi said that the world can become better only by taking common resolutions and protecting everyone’s interests.

Mr Modi said, his government worked on the principle of trust, with Citizens. Talking about the exponential growth of digitalization in the country, the Prime Minister said, today, 40 percent of the world’s real-time digital payments take place in India. He said, this is the answer to those who questioned the ability of the poor and marginalized to make digital payments.

The Prime Minister elaborated that after 2014, the government-first mentality was reimagined as a people-first approach and the government worked on the principle of trusting its citizens.

The Prime Minister said, India has shown the world how to convert calamities into opportunities. He said, in the last three years the whole world has changed due to Covid pandemic. Mr Modi said, in the last three years, India has shown the world the true meaning of anti-fragile.