Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ushered in a new era of “politics of performance” by moving India away from the scourges of corruption, casteism and dynastic politics.
Addressing a press conference to announce the ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’ from September 17 to October 17 to mark PM Modi’s birthday and 25 years of PM Modi rule in Gujarat and Centre, Shah said the PM has freed the country from policy paralysis, coalition compulsions and poor decision-making. The campaign will have 12 major programmes, including blood donation and lamp-lighting drives, painting and speech competitions for young people, beneficiary interactions, motorcycle yatras between Vadnagar, Modi’s birthplace in Gujarat, and Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, and events aimed at ensuring saturation of government welfare schemes. He also cited a 7.8 per cent GDP growth in the first quarter as evidence of India’s strong economic performance. Shah said 25 crore people had been brought out of poverty and listed welfare measures, including free foodgrains to 81 crore people, 58 crore bank accounts, healthcare cover of up to Rs 5 lakh for 44 crore people, tap water connections to 16 crore households, Rs 6,000 annually under PM-Kisan to 13 crore farmers and toilets in 13 crore households. He highlighted the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam providing for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures, and cited women’s participation in the armed forces, police, science, startups, drones and sports.
“PM Modi has freed the country from policy paralysis, coalition compulsions and poor decision-making,” he said. It will also feature ‘Seva Ke Rang Rashtra Ke Sang’, described by Shah as the world’s largest human-group rangoli initiative and a ‘Seva First Innovation Challenge’ involving five regional innovation competitions, he said. Shah said the country had witnessed a strong foreign and defence policy based on the principle of “India First”, while the economy had moved from being counted among the ‘Fragile Five’ to the top five globally.
