DC Debate: The PM’s speech on Independence Day was defensive and lacked newness

Speech therapy: The PM’s speech on Independence Day was defensive and lacked newness

Chattar Singh Vs Praveen S. Kapoor

=======================================

Chattar Singh: It had no vision, no direction

The nation wanted to know how the PM was going to improve the living conditions of millions of people. But he failed us on all accounts. This was perhaps the weakest Independence Day speech by a sitting PM.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech had neither any vision nor any direction. He had nothing new to add to the glory of his government. This is primarily because Mr Modi has failed to fulfil any of the tall promises he had made before the Lok Sabha elections.

In his first Independence Day speech, Mr Modi had talked about Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, Make In India campaign, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna, Jan Dhan Yojna, setting up of toilets in schools and issue of black money. But this time around, when the entire nation wanted to know what progress the government had made, he had nothing to offer. We have not made any progress on any of these projects, and that’s precisely why the Prime Minister was on his back-foot.

A survey conducted on our cleanliness status in 476 cities showed that Congress-ruled Mysore was at the top position, and the Prime Minister’s home constituency Varanasi stood at 418th rank. The national capital, whose cleanliness is the prime responsibility of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led municipal bodies, was ranked at 398th spot. On his so-called pet subject, black money, Mr Modi said Rs 6,500 had already been unearthed. While corruption as a theme resonated through his 85-minute long speech, detailing the government’s successes and measures in tackling the menace, the Prime Minister did not share details of the amount which each citizen would be getting from the black money unearthed.

Mr Modi very enthusiastically said that 17 lakh bank accounts had been opened under the Jan Dhan Yojna, but he did not specify what transactions had been going on in these bank accounts. He also didn’t give figures of the accounts which have been closed due to shortage of funds. Under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna, about 100 MPs have not adopted any village so far, a majority of whom belong to the saffron brigade.

The Prime Minister’s speech truly managed to disappoint armed forces servicemen who had hoped that he would announce the implementation of “One Rank, One Pension” scheme that would ensure pension parity among retired servicemen of the same rank and same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement.
Last year, our Prime Minister had promised to bring in a policy to ensure so that farmers would no longer be forced to commit suicides. Without announcing any such policy, Mr Modi just washed his hands off from the sensitive issue by saying that the agriculture ministry would now be renamed the agriculture and farmer welfare ministry. This is a joke that the Prime Minister has played upon the sentiments of millions of poor farmers of this country.

The entire nation wanted to know how our Prime Minister was going to improve the living conditions of millions of economically downtrodden people in the country. But he failed us on all accounts. This was perhaps the weakest Independence Day speech by a sitting Prime Minister in the last 68 years.

(As told to Sanjay Kaw)
Chattar Singh is a senior Delhi Congress leader

Praveen S. Kapoor: He set the agenda for three years

Mr Modi is not just an administrative Prime Minister but a catalyst for social change. Like his last year’s calls, this year’s ‘Start-up India, Stand up India’ will also usher in more inclusive development.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech was as vibrant as ever. The speech had everything that a Prime Minister in his second year should focus upon. Last year Mr Modi used the Red Fort dias to bring before the nation the need to take up social change on a priority basis and this year he gave a preliminary report card on that alongwith his agenda for inclusive agro-industrial growth for the next three years.

In the last one year, India has seen lakhs of toilets being built and swachchta becoming the topic of social discussions. Now people hesitate to litter and fewer people are defacating on the roads, something so common till just early last year. This Independence Day, the nation heard a Prime Minister whose multiple social change ideas — Swachch Bharat Abhiyan and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao — have been received very well by people from Delhi to remote places like Bundelkhand or Bastar.

His social security schemes, like Jan Dhan Yojna and the insurance-related Atal Pension Yojana, are raising hope in both rural and urban poor. Having shown the potential of possible social change through people’s inclusion, Prime Minister Modi continued his war against defeatism. While saying that the past government’s failure to deliver on time had raised the feeling of defeatism in the nation, he said that the success of Jan Dhan Yojna, under which crores of bank accounts have been opened, symbolises that India is coming out of it. In this context, his stress on “Team India” was useful and genuine.

In his speech the Prime Minister announced that he has set the target of 100 per cent electrification of India to be achieved in less than three years. This will open the gates of development, not just for a region but the whole nation. Imagine the rise in agricultural produce or industrial output once electricity reaches all corners of the country.

This one task of 100 per cent electrification will make India and Mr Modi proud. By the time he climbs the stairs of Red Fort in his fifth year, rural India will not be rushing to metros in search of work. Rural agriculture will thrive on good irrigation, and electricity will take industrial and Internet growth down to the last man.
In his slogan of “save water, save energy, save fertilisers”, the Prime Minister’s concern for farmers’ welfare was very apparent.

Talking about special entrepreneur credit for dalits and women, Mr Modi gave a push to the already launched Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd (Mudra) Bank, and to efforts to raise India’s business potential. Mr Modi is not just an administrative Prime Minister but a catalyst for social change. Like his last year’s calls, this year’s “Start-up India, Stand up India” will also usher in more inclusive development.

Those who found foreign policy missing from the speech, the next two days more than made up for that — his visit to the United Arab Emirates. Mr Modi today stands as the tallest statesman the world over with commanding foreign contacts with heads of state.

Praveen Shankar Kapoor is BJP’s Delhi media in-charge