Reaches out to POLITICAL parties, youth for Viksit Bharat 2047
NEW DELHI, AUG 15 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged political parties to rise above differences to help secure 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures, called on the youth to take the lead in building a developed India, and warned that armed Naxalism has been eliminated but “dimagi Naxals” still lurked.
In his 13th consecutive Independence Day address to the nation, next only to 17 by Jawaharlal Nehru in a row, Modi sought to rally parties and young Indians around his Viksit Bharat 2047 vision while laying out a roadmap for India’s economic and strategic rise through what he described as seven streams, or “saptadharas”, of development.
Reaching out to the youth in a big way from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the country’s 80th Independence Day, weeks after widespread student protests over paper leaks and irregularities in exams, he made a series of announcements — free online coaching for competitive exams, AI training for one crore youth, a sports talent hunt and a vibrant civil defence network. He also listed opportunities for them in areas ranging from manufacturing, space and nuclear to semiconductors.
He referred to the youth more than 50 times in the course of his 75-minute speech.
Days after a near washout of the Monsoon session of Parliament, he called for setting aside political wrangling to ensure implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, saying all must venerate women power. While the opposition took a jibe at the prime minister for what they described as a reverse sequence of tricolour in his pocket squares, BJP hit out at the Congress for the absence of its leaders and for what they called the insult of “Vande Mataram” at its own Independence Day programme.
For the first time, the full six stanzas of the national song were rendered during the celebrations at the Red Fort.
In his speech, Modi also paid homage to all freedom fighters and took a few names, including that of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and remembered their sacrifices. Earlier in the morning, he paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial in Raj Ghat.
In his address, PM Modi pitched for making India a global hub for defence manufacturing, placing special emphasis on self-reliance in advanced capabilities such as hypersonic technology and drone systems.
On the education sector, he struck an emotive note while highlighting how coaching classes had become a burden for the poor and middle class.
Referring to successes achieved in the government’s fight against the Naxals, Modi said for years individuals harbouring Maoist ideologies had entrenched themselves within the corridors of power in the country and through their roles as advisors on government committees. This “Maoist mindset”, he said, had influenced policy making.
“We have succeeded in eliminating armed Naxals from the forests and liberating the nation from that crisis. However, while armed Naxals are gone, ‘dimagi’ (intellectual) Naxals are lurking around,” he said.
While PM had earlier talked about ‘urban Naxals’, the new coinage sparked a buzz with some translating it as ‘mental Naxals’ and others as ‘people with Naxal mindset’.
Modi also made a specific appeal to the youth to play an active role in the ongoing Census 2027 by helping their families fill “accurate information” digitally.