Govt should not meddle in people’s lives: PM Narendra Modi
PM Modi spoke of enhancing the quality of life in urban areas through regular assessments and improvements in infrastructure and services
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech on Thursday, stressed policies to scale up urban infrastructure and “ease of living” with modern amenities, which are essential to achieve the goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047, the centennial year of India’s freedom from colonial rule.
Delivering his customary speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the PM spoke of enhancing the quality of life in urban areas through regular assessments and improvements in infrastructure and services.
“The middle class naturally expects quality of life. They give a lot to the nation. The country also has responsibility to ensure they don’t face bureaucratic hurdles,” said PM Modi.
Outlining his vision for a developed-country status, Modi said one of the aspects of development is that there should be “minimum interference in people’s life by the government”.
“Where there is no need, the government should not interfere. Where people expect government’s action, it should be effective. With new opportunities arising in India, I can confidently say that two key developments have accelerated our progress -- the creation of modern infrastructure and ease of living”, he said.
Modi said his government had taken major steps to boost infrastructure in the country in the last ten years.
“We have also given priority to ease of living,” the PM said, adding that the government had built 40 million houses in the last decade and 30 million more were going to be constructed.
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Pushing the government’s rural and urban housing programmes, the cabinet on August 10 had given its nod for 30 million additional houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (PMAY).
Of the 30 million houses, 20 million will be constructed in rural areas under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) and 10 million under the PMAY-Urban.
The department of rural development will implement the PMAY-G between FY 2024-25 and 2028-29.
Financial assistance will be provided for construction of houses at existing “unit assistance” of ₹1.20 lakh in plain areas and ₹1.30 lakh in northeastern states and the hilly states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the recent Union budget targeted raising the capital expenditure of the government by 11.1% to ₹11.11 lakh crore for the fiscal year starting April 1. The country’s growth has been largely driven by government capex in the last few years.
The ratio of capex-to-GDP, which rose to 3.3% for FY24, is now to be 3.4% in the current financial year. India’s capex in FY21 and FY22 stood at ₹4.1 lakh crore and ₹5.9 lakh crore.