Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of 70th Independence Day, addressed the nation from the podium of Red Fort.
In his third Independence Day speech, Prime Minister hailed about various aspects of the country emphasising need and importance of Swaraj.
Here’s what Prime Minister Modi said:
- We take renewable and clean energy very seriously. Before our government, we used to lay 30,000-35,000 km in transmission lines in a year. Today our government lays 50,000 km in transmission lines per year.
- We have connected 70 crore Indians to Aadhaar and social security schemes. There was a time when the government was shrouded by allegations, but now the government is surrounded by expectations.
- In the last 60 years, 14 crore people got cooking gas connections. Under our government, 4 crore people have got the connections in just 60 weeks.
- In my first speech I had asked how we can tackle the huge problem of sanitation in our country. In such little time, we have built 2 crore toilets, more than 70,000 villages are open defecation free.
- In 2014, more than 18,000 villages did not have electricity. When we came to power, we decided that they must get electricity within a thousand days. Not even half the time has passed and 10,000 villages have got electricity already.
- In the past, the government had a habit of interfering where it should not, and not intervening where it should. Through our intervention, we have brought the cost of a Rs. 350 LED bulb to Rs. 50. I do not want to ask where all that money used to go. I am happy to let you know that we have distributed 13 crore such bulbs.
- Air India, that used to be much maligned, has an operating profit today. While every telecom company in the world flourished, BSNL used to run in losses. Today, BSNL too has turned an operating profit. Earlier there used to be so much corruption, people who did not exist used to benefit from social schemes. I am glad to let you know that we have eliminated that.
- We do not believe in procrastination, we believe in solving problems. The OROP (One Rank, One Pension) was hanging for a long time. We took it head on.
- “Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Ambedkar have always stressed on the need for social unity. We must respect of all religions. Only financial growth is not important. Social unity is also important. 125 crore people of India are part of one family. Yes, there are problems, but we have to rise above and fight such anti-social elements. Only then we’ll be able to progress in real sense,” PM Modi said.
- SAARC countries have a common problem – poverty. I call upon all to come together and fight poverty, not each other. There cannot be a bigger independence than freedom from poverty.