India More Secure, Egalitarian in 11 Years: PM Modi

New Delhi:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that India has become more secure and egalitarian in the past 11 years due to the various development schemes initiated by his government. In his address at an event in the national capital, Mr Modi said that “India is now in no mood to stop” and credited the country’s progress to “democratisation” of governance. He also slammed the governance record of the previous Congress governments.

"India is now emerging as the nerve centre of global supply chains,” Mr Modi said and pointed out that the country had emerged as among the top five global economies after being considered previously as among the “fragile five” global economies.

Speaking at a conference on “Unstoppable Bharat”, Mr Modi on Friday said it is his guarantee that the day is not far when the nation will be rid of Maoist terror and hit out at the previous Congress regime for nurturing "urban naxals" and turning a blind eye to violence unleashed by them.

Slamming the “ecosystem” of the Congress that Mr Modi said comprised “urban naxals”, Mr Modi said that those roaming around with copies of the Constitution were trying to protect the Maoists who never believed in it.

“Thousands were killed by the Maoists. Mothers (of the victims) will bless us,” the Prime Minister said, adding that out of the 125 districts ravaged by Naxalism earlier, there are now only 11 districts affected by it, out of which just three continue to be substantially affected.

“When the government believes in the Constitution, people who were on the wrong path return to the mainsteam… Our hard work will be recognised. That day is not far off when the country will be fully liberated from the Maoist scourge. This is also Modi’s guarantee… This year Diwali festivities will be different,” the Prime Minister said, to loud applause.

Dwelling on the issues of terrorism, Mr Modi told the gathering that India now believes in striking back and delivering a “jaw-breaking response” after any act of terrorism.

In the presence of his Sri Lankan PM Harini Amarasuriya, former British PM Rishi Sunak and former Australian PM Tony Abbott, Mr Modi referred to the retaliatory surgical strikes of the past decade and to Operation Sindoor launched this May (against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism) and said this was different from previous eras when the country kept quiet after every terror attack. “India is now in no mood to stop,” he added.

The Prime Minister said inflation is now under two per cent, while the economic growth has crossed seven per cent annually. Taking a jibe at the Congress, Mr Modi said that when economic reforms were launched earlier (in 1991 by then finance minister and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh), it was out of compulsion and ordered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whereas the reforms under his government are driven by “conviction and not compulsion”.

The Prime Minister referred to the “dismal” scenario before 2014, when he assumed office, and said India was beset by problems such as terrorism, naxalism, lack of security for women, policy paralysis and shoddy governance. He contrasted that with the situation now and said that “India has quashed all doubts”. He pointed out now even the IMF in its predictions had revised the growth rate of India upwards.

The Prime Minister pointed to record profits of banks and public sector undertakings (PSUs) under his government. He lauded the state-run BSNL for launching India’s very own 4G stack and accused previous Congress governments at the Centre of having tried to ruin the BSNL.

Mentioning the mantra of “reliability, responsibility and resilience” and “risk to reform to resilience and to revolution”, Mr Modi criticised former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s decision in the 1960s of bank nationalisation, saying it had driven the poor further away from the banking system. He recounted how when he assumed power in 2014, half of the country’s people did not even have a bank account and asserted that now the banking facilities have been made available to all.

“This is democratisation. This is the real spirit of the Constitution,” the Prime Minister said. He also accused previous Congress governments at the Centre of trying to shut down petrol pumps for long hours to avoid shelling out government subsidies and also accused the (Nehru) “family” of giving empty speeches on poverty for decades when in power.