New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind sought to redefine the idea of freedom in his address to the nation on Tuesday, saying it should be expanded to include development programmes that help fill the gap in nation building that started during the struggle for independence.
In his televised speech on the eve of India’s 72nd Independence Day, he tied the concepts of freedom and liberty to developmental schemes for key demographic groups such as farmers, soldiers, students and women and listed how tools provided by the government can “uphold this new freedom”.
Although he did not name any of the programmes launched by the government, he alluded to them at various places in his address.
For instance, while on the subject of women’s role in nation building, he said they must have the right to lead a life of their choosing – whether it is as sheer anchors of families or as critical entrants in workforce. He explained how the Centre has facilitated this by providing credit for women-run enterprises and start-ups, and by easier availability of LPG in millions of kitchens and homes.
The Centre had in 2015 launched the Mudra financing scheme, whose biggest beneficiary has been women, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship project Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has provided 50 million free cooking gas connections to households.
The President said farmers also uphold freedom by ensuring food security and nutrition for children and the government has assisted them by “providing access to technology and other facilities for enhanced productivity and incomes.”
The NDA government, which has often been at the receiving end of farmer outrage and protests, had recently increased the minimum support price and also promised to double agricultural income by 2022.
He further said that the government has lived up to the “principles of the freedom struggle” by providing better equipment, facilities and welfare to soldiers, who protect the country from external threats.
“As we give them better weapons and equipment, build supply chains for such equipment in India itself, or ensure welfare benefits for our soldiers, we live up to the principles of our freedom struggle,” Kovind said.
Modernisation of the forces, Make in India for defence weapons and One Rank One Pension scheme, which was a long-standing demand of the defence personnel, have been the cornerstones of the Modi government’s policy towards the security forces and they all found oblique references.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often used OROP to stress his government’s commitment to the Army as the issue has the potential to swing the influential fauji vote again in 2019, like it did in 2014 after the BJP made it a poll promise. The PM had last month announced that Rs 8,500 crore has been distributed to ex-servicemen in three instalments and the fourth would be released soon.
Kovind also alluded to the government’s schemes for youth by saying that it has boosted their “human capital” with its skilling and scholarship programmes and schemes to encourage entrepreneurship, mobile apps and sports. The government has launched a series of schemes such as Skill India, Startup India and Khelo India.
He concluded his address by saying that together, the government and the people can eliminate poverty, illiteracy and inequality. “We can and we must do this together. The government has a leading role but not the sole role. Let us use the government’s programmes and projects to further our own efforts,” he said.
Comments
0 comment