Reforms unpleasant but will bear fruit: PM

Mysuru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that decisions and reforms may be unpleasant at the beginning but they would bear fruit in the times to come.

“The path of start-up and innovation is not the one with ease, and taking the country on this path for the last eight years was also not easy. Several decisions and reforms may be unpleasant temporarily, but with time their benefits can be experienced by the country,” Modi said.

“The path of reforms can alone take us towards new targets and new resolve,” and referred to the opening up of the space and defence sectors.

Modi’s comments, made after inaugurating developmental projects and laying the foundation stone for others in the Karnataka capital, were seen against the backdrop of the protests against the Agnipath armed forces recruitment scheme. The Prime Minister, however, made no direct reference to the agitations against the Agnipath scheme.

On Sunday, too, while speaking at an event, he said, “It is our country's misfortune that many good things brought with good intentions get trapped in political colours. Media also gets dragged into it due to its TRP compulsions.”

Modi was speaking on the first day of his two-day visit to Karnataka and will take part in the Yoga Day celebrations at Mysuru on Tuesday.

He observed that the 21st century India belonged to wealth and job creators and innovators, who were the country's true strength.

Modi inaugurated the new campus of Dr B.R. Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE) University here and unveiled a statue of the architect of Indian Constitution on the campus. He inaugurated 150 'Technology Hubs' that have been developed from Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).

Modi inaugurated the `280-crore Centre for Brain Resarch (CBR), for which he had laid the foundation stone, at the Indian Institute of Science. “This centre will be at the forefront of research on how to manage brain related disorders,” he said.

The CBR was established as an autonomous, non-profit research organisation in the IISc, with donations from Infosys co-founder S. Gopalakrishnan and his wife Sudha. Gopalakrishnan provided funds for the construction of CBR building; His philanthropic gift is the largest support provided by an individual for scientific research in the history of India.

The CBR is funded by philanthropy and receives research grants for specific projects from several granting agencies.

Modi also laid the foundation stone for the 832-bed Bagchi-Parthasarathy Multispeciality Hospital, for which the IISc had entered into a partnership with Susmita and Subroto Bagchi and Radha and N.S. Parthasarathy, co-founders of Mindtree, a Bengaluru-headquartered information technology services and consulting company, who will donate `425 crore. This is the largest single private donation to the IISc.

“At a time when every nation must give topmost importance to healthcare, efforts like the Bagchi Parthasarathy Multispeciality Hospital assume great importance,” he said. “In the times to come, it will strengthen healthcare capacities and encourage pioneering research in the sector”.

Later, speaking at Mysuru, Modi stated that the speed at which the double engine governments of the BJP both at the Centre and state had contributed to the improvement of railway connectivity in Karnataka was unmatched in the last eight years in comparison to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance rule from 2004-2014.

Speaking at a function in Maharaja’s College Ground Modi unveiling various projects, Modi said the NDA government had electrified 16,000 km of railway lines against 16 km in the 10 years of UPA rule.

Modi appealed to the youth in start-ups to come up with innovative ideas to help improve the life of visually challenged people.