By Shekhar Iyer (Hindustan Times)

New Delhi: The Gujarat Chief Minister believes it is essential to set parameters for development and create zeal among people to adopt it as a mission — the way the struggle for independence was taken up by the masses 60 years ago.

“Our leadership has to learn from Gandhiji, from how he turned the freedom struggle into a countrywide movement,” said Narendra Modi at the HT Leadership Summit on Friday.

The need of the hour, he asserted, is for another movement for development in which every man and woman feels he and she are essential partners for progress.

“Every citizen should be motivated to feel he is doing something that is bringing about development. He must be able to say ‘whatever I do contributes towards that goal’.”

On his achievements in Gujarat as chief minister since 2001, Modi said people could perform miracles if they are made to involve themselves emotionally in nation building. “Whatever you see in Gujarat has happened without any change in the system. I have not added new staff or replaced anyone. The same bureaucracy, the same government employees and files were motivated to do the best. I have succeeded in making them proud of Gujarat’s development.”

“I began by motivating them to believe we need to do something that will make Gujarat proud. If Gujarat is made to feel proud, India will feel proud.”

The chief minister said he himself was amazed by the results. “I have realised our people have the capacity. For instance, Gujarat is a drought-prone state. The fear was that the desert would engulf the state. But I initiated a water conservation scheme that became a hit. Our agricultural income increased from Rs 9,000 crore to Rs 34,000 crore a year.”

Explaining why villages have to be models of development, Modi said he realised that ministers and bureaucrats fled Gujarat in June every year because of the unbearable heat. “But I changed that. I went to the most remote villages to study their problems. When I did so, others followed. Once you are in a village, you realise what is missing and decide to do what needs to be done.”

On the power front, he said: “When I took office in 2001, the people were just pleading with me for electricity when they have dinner at night. Now, all villages in Gujarat have uninterrupted power for 24 hours. The quality of life has changed. No one wants to leave the villages. Doctors are no longer fleeing to towns any more.”

How did he achieve this? “My government went about erecting 23 lakh electric poles, 56,000 transformers and 75,000 new cable connections to ensure three-phase electricity,” Modi explained. Similarly, he said, his government took up with the judiciary the issue of holding evening courts and extending their timings. “I asked the judiciary to extend their timing by half an hour. It agreed and even cut vacations by seven days. Today, the number of pending cases has come down drastically.”

Stating that he did not see any contradiction between regional pride and national identity, he said: “If we need to make India a great country, we will have to do it at the state level. Gujarat has made progress so that the country can stand up and be proud. When I speak about Gujarat’s pride, often, I speak for India’s pride too.”

Modi suggested that each state should be encouraged and helped to excel in its area of specialisation. “If Hyderabad has emerged as an IT base and Bangalore a hub of the knowledge industry, so be it. I can see Gujarat

has the potential to become home to the best diamond polishing industry. The new era demands we have healthy competition among the states and not confrontation. The Centre must help the states realise their potential strength.”

Even today, Modi said, Delhi and Mumbai are being seen as models of development for other cities and towns. “That is because of a historic legacy but other areas are also catching up. We can learn from one another.”

Email: siyer@hindustantimes.com