Good evening to all.
Legislators should not fail the people; legislators are to contribute on the floor of the house. They have to vindicate their path; they have to carry out constitutional ordainment. Secondly, they cannot engage in disruption and disturbance which normally they do every time. I had appealed in Mumbai today that it depends on the people at large to sensitize their parliamentarians and legislators that their unbecoming conduct is not appreciated by them, and they need to perform in the temple of democracy to realize our aspiration.
I was elected to parliament in 1989 for Lok Sabha and I had good fortune to be Union Minister. Then, we could not think of it why a country that was known as Sone Ki Chidiya (golden bird)… I was in the Council of Ministers in 1990 when we had to send, in physical form, our gold - it was airlifted from India for two banks is Switzerland to sustain our fiscal credibility. That there was a time when we had to take a trip to Srinagar as if we had come to a place not having human habitation, I have seen it.Therefore to think of Viksit Bharat then would have been very foolish but in last decade things have dramatically changed.
Just a decade ago, this country Bharat - home to 1/6th of humanity, was amongst Fragile Five economies of the world. Bharat was taken to be a burden on global economy, and look at what we have traversed! We are now world's 5th largest economy. That's not a small achievement. We have gone ahead of Canada, UK and France, and that we have done because of right policies, affirmative governance and result oriented situation. It's a matter of time in two-three years, we would be world’s third largest global economy marching ahead of Japan and Germany.
We have seen in last 10 years’ exponential phenomenal growth of infrastructure. We have seen those kind of societal development which have stunned the world in 2022.Boys and girls, our digital transaction was more than 4 times USA, UK, Germany and France taken together. Can you imagine 4 times of these countries our digital transaction, our per capita internet consumption was more than USA and China taken together. Imagine the power of the Prime Minister, his vision, passion and ambition that 100 million gas connection have been given to the poor free. Imagine the banking inclusion that has taken the place, currently we have 500 million bank accounts that was away from banking inclusion.All these have created history because even the farmers’ 110 million of bank accounts receive money three times a year, direct in their accounts.The amount so far is more than 2 lakh 80 thousand crores.Therefore, it is legitimate for us to think of Viksit Bharat.
Our AmritKal is our Gaurav Kal. What we are witnessing in airports, in railway stations, in trains, on high seas and in the sky, we never dreamt of it. Those are the achievements rightly when we are thinking of Viksit Bharat.
Firm foundation has been laid already in AmritKaal to ensure that in 2047, when Bharat will attain centenary of its independence, it will be the most developed nation in the world. I have no doubt about it and you, for me the boys and girls, are the foot soldiers. You will take on your shoulders the Bharat @2047 as a glorious nation of the world and ideal for the others, and a stabilizing force for peace and harmony in the world.
Now we have an ecosystem in place where every young mind has opportunities to exploit his or her potential, unleash talent and energy,realise dreams and aspirations.And why?Because now autocracy and corruption have gone and meritocracy prevails. we have bid goodbye to favoritism, patronage, nepotism and corruption.
Boys and girls, just imagine few years ago, our power corridors were invested with corrupt elements, liaison elements. Nothing could be transacted or traversed in business or decision making without reaching somebody’s hands. Corruption was a rewarding experience but look at what a big change has taken place! Our power corridors have been fully sanitized, liaison agents are not visible, they have gone … gone forever. they can't make a comeback.
We must have transparency; we must have accountability in governance that is the theme now.Now you know what you want?You want merit alone should be rewarded. When you got all this, it is legitimate for us to dream big and dream keeping in view our civilization ethos of more than 5000 years. We have demonstrated to the world what India is capable of whether it is Russia-Ukraine war, whether it is Israel-Hamas conflict, whether it is dealing with Middle-East or European Union or America, India has its own voice, independent voice.
It is legitimate to address, young boys and girls, that yes your dream for Viksit Bharat in 2047 should be your mission, should be your passion because you are capable of it and trust me, no one can be bigger stakeholder in the government than young minds. You are more involved with governance than anyone else.
One great benefit that has emerged in last few years is equality before law.There was a time when some people thoughts they were above the law, no one could reach them, they were beyond the reach of law, they thought they were distinct class.Now they have learnt the lesson the hard way. All are equal before law, no-one will be spared- none, if violated law, you may be anybody, belonging to any family, belonging to any cast, you are accountable to law as much as any other person is.It is equality before law that is nectar of democracy, that is essence of democracy. We can't visualise democracy without there being equality before law and equal opportunities.
I invite your attention while congratulating you all on the 75th Republic Day celebrations. What did we see on 26 January 2024 on Kartavya Path, the world was stunned. Our women power was in full play, it was so impactful that their contribution on Republic Day was more than 50% and why not?They are not just pilots of commercial airlines, they are fighter pilots, they are being admitted to Army,Defence. No one thought before. Chandrayan success is primarily due to a group of women also and one of them is known as rocket women.
For 3 decades,we struggled hard to make available justice to our mothers and sister, to give them role in governance. Reservation for the women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures failed but it was great occasion on September 20 and 21 in 2023 and we had a great success, except a few abstention, in both the Houses taken together, it was passed and now we have horizontal and vertical reservation to the extent of 1/3rdfor women in Lok Sabha and state legislature. Imagine, think out of the box what will happen to Lok Sabha and state legislatures when more than one third will be women.
When I look around, and look at my days, but for this scholarship I would not have got good education. But now, when I look at the technological penetration in the villages, your village have everything. It has internet, road, water, connectivity, gas connection. You can work from home, from a village.
ISRO- when we fired our first satellite, it was not from our motherland Bharat, it was outside land and now we put in space, satellite of countries like USA, UK, Singapore from our stations. Our Chandrayaan-3 landed on the south pole of moon, no country has done it on that part of the Moon.We have now Shiv Shakti point and Tiranga point. It’s a remarkable success.
Boys and girls, always believe in Bhartiyata, always take pride in your nation, be proud Indians, never hesitate to glorify your nation because the exponential incremental growth trajectory has stunned the world. The World Bank president has indicated that what India has achieved in banking inclusion in 6 years, other nations would do in 47 years. International Monetary Fund has said India is the fastest growing global economy at the moment and a Shining Star in economic world, a favourite destination for investment and opportunities. Make most of it.
You are architects of Bharat. This is not a mere statement, you are architect of Bharat because you are real stakeholders, you will have non-compromise attitude towards corruption, you will have to believe in your Nation because others are believing in this Nation.Those who used to give advice us 10 years ago in other countries are now taking our advice.When the change is so big, be prepared to grab the opportunity. Prime Minister rightly called you not next generation, Prime Minister called you Amrit Generation. This Amrit generation will see the nation in @2047 at peak and then we will be only regaining our past glory.
