Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has replaced the “Culture of Parikrama” (Circumambulation) with the “Commitment of Performance” in the “Power Corridors” of India. This has naturally perturbed all those who considered “Circumambulation in Corridors of Power” as their only strength and passport to success for the last several decades. They have now realised that the “work culture of result oriented performance” is the only mantra paramount for the Modi Government.
Before 2014, receiving and seeing the Prime Minister off at the airport was a “loyal custom” for Members of the Cabinet but this decades old “feudal custom” was given a quick and deserved burial by Shri Modi. Prime Minister Shri Modi also put an end to “Lal Batti culture” (red beacon culture) which was synonymous with snobbery and naked show of power and status. Many MPs/VVIPs used to consider certain subsides and privileges such as occupying government bungalows even without being a Minister or MP as “constitutional right” or “birth right” and these were abolished firmly and without exception. Many Ministries were accustomed to hastily spending the major part of their Budgets in the last quarter or even the last month just to meet the March deadline.
Shri Modi has put an end to all these customary and lackadaisical approach of the Government. The tradition of “work for one day” and “outing for ten days” which was the norm during foreign tours of the Prime Minister, Ministers and bureaucrats has been ended by Shri Modi, who has ensured that official overseas travels are result oriented and work focussed. Another area of concern had been the hold of middlemen and brokers who kept their links with the personal staff in the offices of Ministers intact even after changes in Government and Ministers! But Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi clipped the wings of these brokers and middlemen by restricting the tenure of personal staff of Ministers to ten years over all. Unlike earlier Prime Ministers who rarely communicated with Secretaries and other officials to take ground reports, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has opened regular communication channels with Ministers and Secretaries which has increased accountability and responsibility of all concerned.
One much desired area of reform has been the prestigious Padma awards which were hitherto being given purely on political recommendations. Now Padma awards have become a truly “people's awards” where they are completely people-driven and the deserving are being honoured lending greater value and credibility to them.
In recent months, India along with almost all other nations of the world has being going through an unprecedented crisis resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic. Like a true leader, Prime Minister Shri Modi has led the fight against this pandemic from the front. He has played a proactive role to mitigate the challenges that face a vast and populous country like India with its federal structure of governance and administration. Timely actions and issuance of pan India guidelines have helped the nation tackle the Corona challenge and the other challenges that came along such as floods, typhoons and the swarms of “Tiddis” (locusts) even as certain “Fisaddis” (losers) tried to create confusion.
Prime Minister Shri Modi’s effective and dynamic leadership, performance, hard work and better management of resources ensured that the problems of the common people were mitigated to the maximum during these very difficult times. This passionate commitment to the welfare of the people and their everlasting trust in the Modi Government during the Corona pandemic has resulted in India speedily becoming self-reliant in the health sector. India has not only become self-reliant in production of N-95 masks, PPE, ventilators and other equipment but is now helping other nations to meet their needs. From only one Lab for Corona testing, today there is a network of 1400 Labs across the country. In the initial stage of the Corona crisis, only 300 tests could be conducted in one day,
but in such a short span of time, today we are conducting more than 11 lakh tests per day. This has been an inspiration for other nations also. During the Corona pandemic, in an unprecedented measure, the Modi Government provided:
i) Free ration to more than 81 crore people; ii) About 90 thousand crore rupees were transferred directly into the bank accounts of more than 41 crore needy people; iii) Free gas cylinders were given to about 8 crore families; Garib Kalyan Package worth Rs 1.70 lakh crore has been given; iv) Rs 1500 have been given into bank accounts of 20 crore women; v) Rs 19,000 crore has been given under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. vi) More than 60 lakh migrant labourers reached back to their home states during Corona pandemic through “Shramik Special Trains”and Rs 11,000 crore have been given to the states under State Disaster Relief Fund for providing assistance to migrant labourers. vii) Organised Vande Matram flights to bring back stranded Indian citizens from across the globe. These steps instilled a sense of “Development with Trust” among the people of the country at a time when the Pandemic was threatening to destroy and dampen the spirit of the country.
Apart battling the Corona crisis, the Modi Government also continued to bring in historic and path breaking reforms in socio-economic-educational fields, administration, trade, labour, defence, coal, civil aviation, power distribution, space, forest land, agriculture, communication, banking, investment, street vendors. These bold reforms have ensured that India has converted disaster into opportunity. Some of the steps taken for the welfare of the people and development of the nation are:
(a) “New Education Policy” which will transform the education sector of the country and will contribute to make India an “Education Hub” of the world.
(b) More than 40 crore needy have been included into mainstream economy under “Jan Dhan Yojana”.
(c) “One Nation One Ration Card” has been implemented which is benefitting about 67 crore people and additional Rs 40,000 have been allocated for MGNREGA,
(d) With reforms in Agricultural Marketing, farmers can now sell their produce anywhere in the country;
(e) National Digital Health Mission has been launched. Every Indian will be given a Health ID.
(f) The world’s largest health care scheme “Modi Care” has become the guarantee of health and well-being of the people. “Modi Care” has covered about 40 per cent of the country’s population. The steps taken by the Modi Government in health care sector during the last six years have ensured that despite of huge population, India has been successful in containing the affect of the Corona pandemic to a great extent.
(g) The historic decision taken by the Union Cabinet creating the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to conduct Common Eligibility Test for selecting candidates for majority of Central Government jobs will allow job-seekers take one common test and save costs and time spent on writing multiple exams. The NRA will set up examination centres in every district of the country to help youths, especially women, from rural and far flung areas of the country, as they won't be required to travel to another place to take recruitment tests. The NRA will replace about 20 recruitment agencies. The NRA is a historic, visionary and revolutionary reform in the field of recruitment for central government jobs. It will lead to ease of selection, ease of job placement and ease of living, especially for those sections of society that are considered disadvantaged.
(h) "Mission Karmayogi"- National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB) is a historic step of the Modi Government towards reforms in Civil Services. It will ensure capacity building in Civil Services so that these services remain entrenched in Indian Culture while learning from best practices across world. Mission Karmayogi aims to prepare the Indian Civil Servant for the future by making him more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology-enabled. Empowered with specific role-competencies, the civil servant will be able to ensure efficient service delivery of the highest quality standards which will ensure smooth, successful and satisfactory services to the citizens.
(i) A total of 1 crore 14 lakh people in rural areas of the country have been provided houses under “Housing for All” mission. 3 crore people will be provided houses by March 2022.
(j) Most of the villages, towns of the country have been made open defecation free; electricity has reached to all the villages of the country. All these measures are a result of “Commitment of Performance”.
(k) Record number of more than 1500 un-necessary laws have been scrapped;
(l) Triple Talaq has been abolished;
(m) Muslim women are allowed to perform Haj without Mehram (Male companion);
(n) After the scrapping of Article 370, proactive steps have been taken for the development of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh
(o) Centuries old Ram Mandir issue has been resolved amicably and construction of a grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya has been started.
All these steps have created and reiterated the work culture mantra of “Reform, Perform & Transform” instead of “Circumambulation”. India’s prestige and standing at the global stage has also been boosted under the exceptional leadership of Prime Minister Shri Modi. Yoga has been internationally recognised; India has become a Space Super power; United Nations and countries such as Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Russia, UAE have conferred their highest civilian awards upon Shri Modi; surgical and air strikes against the enemies of the country were carried out sending a clear message to the world that India has the will and the capability to strike at enemies wherever they may try to hide.
The economic slowdown has been the biggest challenge before the world as economies of several developed nations have been severely affected due to the Corona pandemic. Indian economy has also felt the affect of Corona challenges. But Shri Modi’s efforts towards encouragement and assistance to the villages and farmers ensured that the agriculture sector achieved growth even during this pandemic. Besides, India received FDI worth 22 Billion dollars validating foreign investor confidence that the Indian economy is in safe and strong hands. The Indian economy will strongly accelerate further in the coming days. The world is going through a stressful period as the Pandemic has tested the resolve and limits of governments all over. The Modi Government has taken up the challenge head on and has shown that with a visionary leadership and the right focus on the most vulnerable and the most impacted, the adverse effects of the crisis can be mitigated and turned into opportunities with the benefits percolating down to those who need them most.