Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday backed India’s ability to overcome challenges of global economic uncertainty. Speaking at News18’s Rising Bharat Summit 2025, he said despite global challenges, India has raced fast and doubled the size of its economy in just a decade. He came to power in 2014, leading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to its first single-party majority in the Lok Sabha election.Taking a potshot at his political rival, the Congress party, PM Modi said the new Waqf law was a significant move of his government towards social justice, contending that the previous law, enacted in 2013 by the then-Manmohan Singh government, was an attempt for appeasement of land mafia and Muslim fundamentalists.AdvertisementPM Modi said the politics of appeasement was at the root of the debate over the issue of Waqf and it brought the Congress to power and some Muslim fundamentalists became rich.More from India
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Inclusivity is not just a promise, it’s a policy: PM Modi at Rising Bharat SummitHere’s the English translation of PM Modi’s speech on the opening day of the two-day the Rising Bharat Summit, underway at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi:Namaskar!You have given me the opportunity to connect with the respected guests of the country and the world, your audience through this summit, I express my gratitude to NetworkI am happy that you have linked this year’s summit with the aspirations of the youth of India. Earlier this year, on the day of Vivekananda Jayanti, the Vikasit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue was held here in the Bharat Mandap.Then I saw in the eyes of the youth, the sparkle of dreams, the power of determination and the passion to make India developed, the heights to which we want to take India by 2047, the roadmap we are following, if there is churning at every step, then Amrit will definitely emerge. And this Amrit will give energy, direction and speed to the generation of Amrit Kaal. I congratulate you on this summit, wish you all the best.AdvertisementFriends,Today the world’s eyes are on India and the world’s expectations are also from India. In just a few years, we have become the 5th largest economy of the world from the 11th. In a very short time, many types of global challenges came but India did not stop, India ran at double the speed. And in a decade, it has shown by doubling the size of its economy.Those who thought that India would move slow and steady, are now seeing a fast and fearless India and there is no doubt that soon India is destined to become the third economy of the world. Who is driving this unprecedented speed of growth? It is being driven by the youth of India, their ambitions and their aspirations. Addressing these ambitions and aspirations of young India is also the priority of the country today.Friends,Today is 8 April, tomorrow and day after tomorrow, 100 days of 2025 are being completed, the first step of 100 days 2025, in the decisions taken in these 100 days, you will also see a glimpse of the youth aspirations.AdvertisementFriends,In these 100 days we have not just taken decisions, we have laid a strong foundation for the future. We have opened the path of possibilities through policies. Tax is zero for income up to Rs 12 lakh, thank you! The biggest benefit of this is being received by our young professionals and entrepreneurs.Ten thousand new seats in medical, 6500 new seats in IITs means expansion of education, acceleration of innovation, 50 thousand new Atal Tinkering Labs means now the lamp of innovation will be lit in every corner of the country and one lamp will light many lamps!The Centres of Excellence for AI and skill development will give youth a chance to become future ready, 10 thousand new PM Research Fellowships, now the journey from idea to impact is going to be easier. Just like the space sector was opened, similarly now the nuclear energy sector has also been opened, innovation will now get support, not limits.AdvertisementFor the first time, youth associated with the gig economy will be given the protection of social security. Those who were previously invisible to others are now at the centre of policies and term loans of Rs 2 crore for SC, ST and women entrepreneurs. Inclusivity is not just a promise, it’s a policy. The youth of India will directly benefit from all these decisions because India will progress only when the youth progress.Friends,What India has done in these 100 days shows that India is not going to stop, India is not going to bow down, India is not going to stop now. In these 100 days, India became the fourth country in the world to achieve the capability of docking and undocking satellites. India successfully tested the semi-cryogenic engine.India crossed the historic milestone of 100 gigawatt solar capacity. India created a record of 1 thousand million tonnes. National Critical Mineral Mission was started and in these 100 days, the decision to constitute 8th Pay Commission for employees was taken. It was decided to increase subsidy on fertilizers for farmers, which means that concern for the farmers is the priority of the government.AdvertisementIn Chhattisgarh, more than 3 lakh families simultaneously entered their new houses. Under the Swamitva Yojana, more than 65 lakh property cards were handed over and not only this, in these 100 days, one of the highest tunnels in the world, Sonmarg Tunnel, was dedicated to the nation.INS Surat, INS Nilgiri, INS Vagsheer became new gems in the strength of Indian Navy. The purchase of Made in India Light Combat Helicopter for the army got green signal and the Waqf, the bill to amend the Waqf Act was passed, which means another big and concrete step was taken for social justice. These 100 days are more than 100 decisions. These are the days of accomplishment of 100 resolutions. Friends,This mantra of performance is the real energy behind Rising India. You know, just two days ago I was in Rameswaram. There I got the opportunity to inaugurate the historic Pamban Bridge.About 125 years ago, the British had built a bridge there. That bridge has seen history, it has withstood storms, once a tsunami, a cyclone caused a lot of damage to that bridge.AdvertisementThe country kept waiting for years, people kept demanding, but the previous governments did not wake up. When our government came, work started for the new Pamban Bridge. And now the country has got its first vertical lift rail-sea bridge.Friends,The country does not run by keeping projects hanging, the country runs by performing, by working fast. Delay is the enemy of development and we have resolved to defeat this enemy. I will give you more examples. Like Assam’s Bogibeel Bridge, our former PM Deve Gowda ji laid its foundation stone inVajpayee ji’s government came, he started the work. Vajpayee ji’s government went, Congress government came, then the bridge work also got stuck. Lakhs of people of Arunachal and Assam kept getting troubled, but it did not make any difference to the then government.In 2014, when you gave us a chance to serve, this project started again. And in just 4 years, in 2018, the bridge work was completed. Similarly, there is the example of Kollam bypass road project in Kerala. It was stuck since 1972, just think! 50 years! Be it LDF or UDF, no government did any work on it for 50 years. We completed its work within 5 years of forming the government.Friends,Discussions on Navi Mumbai airport also started in 1997, it got approval in 2007, but the Congress government did not work on it. Our government also completed this project quickly. The day is not far when commercial flights will also start from Navi Mumbai airport.Friends,What I am counting, includes Sansad Bhawan and Bharat Mandapam.Friends,Today, 8th April is very important for another reason. Today, Mudra Yojana has completed 10 years. The young friends sitting here must have heard stories from their parents that earlier, even a bank account could not be opened without a guarantee.To open an account, a guarantee was needed, help from one’s partner was needed. Bank loan, this used to be a dream for ordinary families. Poor families, SC/ST, OBC, landless labourers, women, who could only work hard, but who had nothing to mortgage, did their dreams have no value? Were their aspirations low? Was their hard work worth nothing?Our Mudra Yojana addressed their aspirations, gave the youth a new path. In the last 10 years, 52 crore loans were given under Mudra Yojana, 52 crore without guarantee! And not only the scale of the Mudra scheme, the speed is also amazing.By the time the traffic light turns from red to green, 100 Mudra loans are cleared. By the time you brush your teeth and get free, 200 Mudra loans are approved. By the time you finish listening to your favourite song on a radio channel, 400 Mudra loans are sanctioned.These days instant delivery apps are a big trend. In the time it takes for delivery after your order, one thousand Mudra loans are sanctioned. By the time you finish an episode on an OTT, 5 thousand Mudra becomes the basis of a business.Friends,Mudra Yojana did not ask for guarantee, it trusted. And you all will be happy to know that because of Mudra Yojana, 11 crore people have received loans for self-employment for the first time to do their own work. These 11 crore people have now become first time entrepreneurs.That is, in 10 years, 11 crore new dreams have taken flight. And do you know how much money has reached villages and small towns through Mudra? Nearly 33 lakh crore rupees, thirty three lakh crore rupees! Even the GDP of many countries is not this much. This is not just microfinance, this is a mega transformation at the grassroots.Friends,One such example is that of aspirational districts and aspirational blocks. The previous governments had declared more than a hundred such districts of the country as backward and left them to fend for themselves. Many of these districts were in the North East, in the tribal belt.What should have been done was that the government should have sent its best talent to these districts, but what happened was that officers were sent to these districts for punishment posting. This was the old thinking, ’let the backward remain backward’.We changed this approach and declared these districts as aspirational districts. We have focused on the administration of these districts, implemented our flagship schemes in these districts on mission mode. The growth of these districts was monitored on the basis of different parameters.Today, those Aspirational Districts are doing better than the average of many states and many have even surpassed the national average. And the biggest benefit of this has gone to the youth there. Now the youth there say, we can also do it, we can also move forward. Today, many reputed institutions, reputed journals of the world appreciate the Aspirational District Program. Inspired by this success, we are now working on 500 Aspirational Blocks. When aspirations drive growth, it is inclusive as well as sustainable.Friends,For the rapid development of any country, it is very important to have peace, stability and a sense of security in the country. Gurudev Tagore had imagined, Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high. But for decades, the atmosphere of fear, terror kept increasing in India. The youth suffered the most from this.The youth of the country have been scorched the most in the fire of violence, separation and terror. For decades, many generations of youth in Jammu and Kashmir were consumed by bombs, guns and stone-pelting. But those who ruled the country for decades could not show the courage to extinguish this fire. Due to the strong political will and sensitivity of our government, the situation has changed there today. Today, the youth of Jammu and Kashmir have joined development.Friends,You should also look at Naxalism, more than 125 districts of the country were in the grip of Naxalism, in the grip of violence, 125 districts! The government’s boundary ended where Naxalism started. A large number of youth were suffering from Naxalism.We made efforts to bring such youth into the mainstream. In the last 10 years, more than 8 thousand Naxalites have surrendered, have left the path of violence. Today, the number of Naxal-affected districts has also come down to less thanIn our North East too, an endless series of separatism and violence was going on for decades. Our government, in the last 10 years, made 10 major peace agreements. During this period, more than 10 thousand youths have given up arms and joined the mainstream of development. The success is not only that thousands of youths have given up arms, it is also that it has saved the present and future of thousands of youths.Friends,A trend has been going on for decades in our country. Instead of recognising the national challenges, they were hidden under the political carpet. But now the time has come that we should not turn a blind eye to such issues. We cannot burden the generations of the 21st century with the political mistakes of the 20th century.The politics of appeasement has been a big challenge in India’s growth. Recently, the law related to Waqf has been amended in the Parliament. Your network has also discussed this a lot. This debate related to Waqf has at its core the politics of appeasement.This politics of appeasement is not new. Its seed was sown during our freedom struggle itself. Just think, before India, along with India and after us, many countries in the world got independence.But how many countries are there whose condition for independence was partition? How many countries are there which broke up as soon as they got independence? Why did this happen with India?Because at that time the greed for power was placed above the interest of the nation. The idea of a separate country was not of ordinary Muslim families. Rather it was of some fundamentalists. Which was nourished by some leaders of Congress, so that they could become the sole claimants of power.Friends,In this politics of appeasement, Congress got power, some fundamentalist leaders got power and wealth but the question is, what did the common Muslim get? What did the poor, Pasmanda Muslim get?They got neglect. They got illiteracy. They got unemployment. And what did Muslim women get? They got injustice like Shahbano. Where their constitutional rights were sacrificed to fundamentalism. They got the order to remain silent, pressure to not ask questions. And the fundamentalists got an open license to crush the rights of women.Friends,The politics of appeasement is completely against the basic concept of social justice in India. But the Congress made it a weapon of vote bank politics.The amendment made in the Waqf Act in 2013 was an attempt to please Muslim fundamentalists and land mafias. This law was given such a form that it created the illusion of standing above the Constitution.The Constitution which opened the paths of justice, those very paths were narrowed in the Waqf Act. And what were its ill-effects?The spirits of fundamentalists and land mafias were boosted. Claims of Waqf on the land of Christian villagers in Kerala, land of Gurudwaras in dispute in Haryana, claims on the land of farmers in Karnataka, villages in many states, thousands of hectares of land are now stuck in NOC and legal complications.Be it temples, churches, Gurudwaras, farms, government lands, no one had any confidence that their land would remain theirs. Only one notice used to come and people used to keep searching for papers for their own house and farm. The law which was for justice, became a cause of fear, what kind of law was this?Friends,I congratulate the country’s Parliament for making a wonderful law in the interest of the entire society, in the interest of the Muslim society. Now the sacred spirit of Waqf will also be protected and the rights of poor-Pasmanda Muslims, women-children, everyone will also be protected.The debate on the Waqf Bill was the second longest debate in our parliamentary history, that is, the second longest debate in 75 years. There was a 16-hour discussion on this bill in both the houses. There were 38 meetings of JPC, 128 hours of discussion.About one crore online suggestions came from all over the country. This shows that today democracy in India is not limited to just the four walls of the Parliament. Our democracy is becoming stronger with public participation.Friends,Today the world is rapidly moving towards technology and AI. And that is why it is now more important that we work on our softer sides of art, music, culture, creativity because we do not want to create robots, we want to create humans. That is, whatever works for us with the help of machines, we should work more on them for humanity, for sensitivity.Entertainment is one of the biggest industries in the world today and it will expand further in the coming times. At such a time, to encourage art and culture, to celebrate it, we have created Waves and when Rahul was giving his speech, perhaps Waves came up 10 times, the word Waves was used 10 times, but it is not that Waves started only in 2014, it comes with a new form every 10 years and today when I am talking about that Waves i.e. World Audio-Visual and Entertainment Summit, a platform named Waves has been created.A very big event of this is going to be organized in Mumbai next month and this is going to keep happening continuously, a long system is being set up. As you all know, we have a very vibrant and creative industry of movies, podcasts, gaming, music, AR and VR. We have decided to take it to the next level with the mantra of Create in India.WAVES will encourage Indian artists to create content and make it global. And along with this, Create in India will also provide an opportunity to artists from all over the world to come to India. I would also like to ask the colleagues of Network18 to come forward to popularise the WAVES platform.There are a large number of young colleagues working in creative domains here, I also got a chance to meet some of them. I would also like to ask them to become a part of this movement, this platform. The wave of WAVES should reach every home, every heart! I have full faith that you people will do this.Friends,The way Network18 has brought forward the creativity, thinking and determination of the youth of the country through this summit is commendable. You engaged the youth, gave them a platform to think about the problems of the country, give suggestions and find solutions and most importantly, made them partners in change, not just listeners.Now I urge the universities, colleges and research institutions of the country to take the engagement of this summit forward. Document the insights and suggestions that have emerged, study them and take them to the policy. Only then will this summit not just be an event but an impact.Your enthusiasm, your thinking, your participation is the energy of the resolve to make India a developed country. I once again extend my best wishes to all the colleagues associated with this event and especially to our young colleagues.Thank you very much!TagsEconomyIndiaIndian EconomyNarendra ModiEnd of Article
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‘India is not slow and steady, it’s fast and fearless’: PM Modi at Rising Bharat Summit | Full text
