Prime Minister Narendra Modi is celebrating his 74th birthday today (September 17). Programmes are being organised across the country to mark the occasion. For the PM, it will be a working birthday.
As per News18 sources, he will start his day by offering prayers at the famous Vishwanath Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi. By afternoon, Modi will be in Odisha to launch a Subhadra Yojana in the capital Bhubaneswar. He is likely to conclude his birthday in Nagpur, the home to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters.
As PM Modi turns 74, here’s a look at his government’s achievements in the last 10 years.
Infrastructure boom
The Modi government’s focus on infrastructure is commendable. Several new airports, ports and highways have come up in the last decade. The capital expenditure on national highways has increased over 4.5 times, from Rs 51,000 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 2.4 lakh crore in 2022-23, a written response to the Lok Sabha by Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, last year revealed.
The length of national highways has surged from 91,287 km in March 2014 to 1,46,145 km at present.
The Centre has expanded the air travel network by building new airports. In January, the then civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that 75 new airports were constructed during the first two tenures of the Modi government.
The Centre is also making efforts to modernise India’s railway network.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with students in Vande Bharat Express after its flagging off, in Gorakhpur, July 7, 2023. File Photo/PTI
This goal to upgrade India’s infrastructure has continued in the third National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
Modi 3.0, which has completed 100 days in office, has approved projects worth Rs 3 lakh crore in 100 days with an emphasis on roads, railways, ports, and airways. A government source told ANI that enhancing capital expenditure to Rs 11.11 lakh crore is expected to create jobs.
Make in India
PM Modi launched the Make In India initiative in September 2014 to facilitate investment, foster innovation and strengthen skill development. This was introduced to help establish India as a global manufacturing hub.
The government has taken steps to ramp up exports through several methods, including e-commerce and promoting ease of doing business. As per Financial Express, currently, India’s e-commerce exports are near $5 billion. This could reach $200-300 billion by 2030.
India is also working towards making the defence sector ‘self-reliant’. The country’s defence exports broke records in the financial year 2022-23, touching nearly Rs 16,000 crore mark, according to the Ministry of Defence.
The government has set a target to more than triple its annual defence exports to Rs 35,000 crores by 2024-25.
Digital revolution
The Modi government ushered in India’s digital revolution. Under the Digital India scheme, the Centre wants to transform India into a “digitally empowered society and knowledge economy”.
The digital boom in the country has seen billions in the country with smartphones availing cheap data plans. The introduction of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has helped India go cashless. This facilitates users to make real-time payments, with the money being directly transferred between the bank accounts of the sender and receiver.
A startup culture has also developed in India in recent years. In 2016, the year when the Modi government launched Startup India, there were only 442 startups in the country. By May 14, 2023, the figures jumped to 99,371, as per the official data. Today, India has more than 100 unicorns (startups valued at over $1 billion).
Foreign policy
PM Modi is known for his foreign policy. His bear hugs with global leaders are world-famous. The PM’s craze among the Indian diaspora is worth noticing.
Under Modi, India has enhanced outreach to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This has delivered dividends as well, with the Gulf monarchies deepening opposition to Islamist terrorism that continues to pose a threat to India, Ashley J Tellis, Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote for Economic Times.
India has enhanced its relationship with the US. Despite Western pressure, New Delhi did not strain ties with Russia. India continues to maintain its neutral stand in Russia’s war with Ukraine and has repeatedly called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict.
India emerged as the voice of the Global South as it hosted the G20 (Group of 20) Summit last year. Under India’s presidency, the African Union (AU) has become a permanent member of the grouping.
Women empowerment
Women have been at the centre of the Modi government’s policies. The government’s ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ aims to improve the declining child sex ratio (CSR). It also wants to ensure the survival, protection and education of the girl child. Notably, the maternal mortality ratio has significantly fallen in the country.
With its Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), the government has equipped rural and deprived households with concessional LPG connections. The scheme benefits women who use traditional methods of cooking that are detrimental to their health.
About 17 crore LPG consumers have been added in the past nine years. The PMUY has helped in expanding the LPG coverage from 62 per cent in 2016 to 104.1 per cent in 2022.
With inputs from agencies
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