Namaskar!

You all must be tired, your ears must be tired of Arnab's loud voice, sit down Arnab, it is not the election season yet. First of all, I congratulate Republic TV for this innovative experiment. You people have brought the youth here by involving them at the grassroots level, by organizing such a big competition. When the youth of the country get involved in the national discourse, there is novelty in thoughts, it fills the entire environment with a new energy and we are feeling this energy here at this time. In a way, with the involvement of youth, we are able to break every bond, go beyond limits, yet there is no goal that cannot be achieved. There is no destination that cannot be reached. Republic TV has worked on a new concept for this summit. I congratulate all of you for the success of this summit, I greet you. Well, I also have a little selfishness in this, one, for the last few days I have been thinking that I have to bring one lakh youth into politics and that one lakh are such who are first timers in their families, so in a way, such events are preparing the ground for this aim of mine. Secondly, there is my personal benefit, the personal benefit is that those who will go to vote in 2029 do not know what the headlines of newspapers used to be before 2014, they do not know, there used to be scams of 10-10, 12-12 lakh crores, they do not know and when they will go to vote in 2029, there will be nothing before them for comparison and therefore, I have to pass that test and I have full faith that this ground which is being created will make that work strong.

Friends, 

Today the whole world is saying that, it is the century of India, you haven’t heard this.  India's achievements, India's successes have raised a new hope in the whole world. The India about which it was said that it will sink itself and take us down with it, that India is today driving the growth of the world. What is the direction of India's future, we come to know this from our work and achievements today. Even 65 years after independence, India was the world's eleventh largest economy. In the last decade, we have become the world's fifth largest economy, and now we are going to become the world's third largest economy at the same speed.

Friends, 

Let me also remind you of what happened 18 years ago. The reason for this figure being 18 years is special because those who have turned 18, who are becoming voters for the first time, do not know about the period before 18 years, that is why I have taken that figure. 18 years ago, i.e., in 2007, India’s annual GDP reached one trillion dollars. In simple words, this was the time when economic activity in India was worth one trillion dollars in a year. Now look at what is happening today? Now almost one trillion dollars’ worth of economic activity is happening in a single quarter. What does this mean? The amount of economic activity that was happening in India in a year 18 years ago is now happening in just three months. This shows how fast today’s India is progressing. I will give you some examples, which show how big changes have come in the last decade and how the results have come. In the last 10 years, we have succeeded in bringing 25 crore people out of poverty. This number is more than the total population of many countries. You can also remember the time when the government itself accepted, the Prime Minister himself said that if one rupee was sent, only 15 paise reached to the poor, who used to eat up that 85 paise and then there is today's era. In the last decade, more than 42 lakh crore rupees have been transferred to the accounts of the poor through DBT, Direct Benefit Transfer, DBT. If you do the calculation of 15 paise out of a rupee, then what will be the calculation of 42 lakh crore? Friends, today when one rupee goes out from Delhi, 100 paise reaches the last place.

Friends, 

10 years ago, India was nowhere in the world in terms of solar energy. But today India is among the top-5 countries in the world in terms of solar energy capacity. We have increased the solar energy capacity by 30 times. Solar module manufacturing has also increased by 30 times. 10 years ago, we used to import even Holi pichkaris and children's toys from abroad. Today our toy exports have tripled. Till 10 years ago, we used to import even rifles for our army from abroad and in the last 10 years, our defence exports have increased 20 times.

Friends,

In these 10 years, we have become the world's second largest steel producer, the world's second largest mobile phone manufacturer and the world's third largest startup ecosystem. In these 10 years, we have increased our capital expenditure on infrastructure five times. The number of airports in the country has doubled. In these ten years, the number of operational AIIMS in the country has tripled. And in these 10 years, the number of medical colleges and medical seats has also almost doubled.

Friends, 

The temperament of today's India is different. Today's India thinks big, sets big targets and today's India shows great results. And this is happening because the thinking of the country has changed, India is moving ahead with big aspirations. Earlier our thinking was like, it's okay, it happens, let it be, whatever happens, let it be, whoever has to do something will do it, do your own thing. Earlier the thinking had become so narrow, I will give you an example of it. There was a time, if there was a drought somewhere, if it was a drought-affected area, then people used to give memorandums when Congress was in power, so what did the villagers demand, that sir, famines keep happening, so at this time during famine, relief work should start, we will dig pits, take out the soil, fill it in other pits, this is what people used to demand, someone would say what did he demand, that sir, please get a hand pump installed in my area, they used to demand a hand pump for water, sometimes what did the MPs demand, give him a gas cylinder a little early, MPs used to do this work, they used to get 25 coupons and the Member of Parliament used those 25 coupons to oblige for gas cylinders in his entire area. One MP 25 cylinders in a year and all this was happening till 2014. MPs used to demand that Sir, this train that is going, please give it a stoppage in my area, a stoppage was being demanded.

I am saying all these things which were happening before 2014, not very old. Congress had crushed the aspirations of the people of the country. That is why the people of the country had even stopped having hope, they had accepted that nothing will happen from them, what are they doing. People used to say that brother, okay, if you can do only this much, then do only this much. And today you see, how fast the situation and thinking are changing. Now people know who can work, who can bring results, and this is not the common citizen, if you listen to the speeches in the House, then the opposition also gives the same speech, why is Modi ji not doing this, it means they think that this is what will do.

Friends, 

The aspiration that we have today is reflected in their words. The way of speaking has changed. What do people demand now? Earlier people used to ask for stoppages, now they come and say, start a Vande Bharat train at my place too. I had gone to Kuwait some time back, so when I normally go out to the labour camp there, I try to go to my countrymen wherever they work. So, when I went to the labour colony there, I was talking to our labourer brothers and sisters who work in Kuwait, some have been working there for 10 years, some for 15 years. Now see, a labourer from a village in Bihar has been working in Kuwait for 9 years and comes here once in a while. When I was talking to him, he said, Sir, I want to ask a question. I said, please ask. He said, Sir, please build an international airport near my village at the district headquarters. I was so glad that a labourer from my country's village in Bihar who has been working in Kuwait for 9 years also thinks that now an international airport will be built in his district. This is the aspiration of a common citizen of India today, which is driving the whole country towards the goal of developed India.

Friends, 

The strength of any society or nation increases only when restrictions are removed from its citizens, obstacles are removed, walls of hindrances fall. Only then the strength of the citizens of that country increases, even the height of the sky becomes small for them. Therefore, we are constantly removing the barriers that previous governments had put before the citizens. Now I give an example of the space sector. Earlier, everything in the space sector was the responsibility of ISRO. ISRO certainly did a great job, but the remaining potential in the country regarding space science and entrepreneurship was not being utilized, everything was confined to ISRO. We courageously opened the space sector for young innovators. And when I made the decision, it did not make the headline of any newspaper, because there is no understanding either. Republic TV viewers will be happy to know that today more than 250 space startups have been formed in the country, this is the wonder of the youth of my country. These startups are today making rockets like Vikram-S and Agnibaan. The same happened in the sector of mapping, there were so many restrictions, you could not make an atlas, technology has changed. Earlier, if you had to make a map in India, you had to make rounds of government offices for years. We removed this restriction as well. Today, data related to geo-spatial mapping is paving the way for new startups.

Friends, 

Nuclear energy, the sector related to nuclear energy was also kept under government control earlier. There were restrictions, constraints, walls were erected. Now in this year's budget, the government has announced to open it for the private sector. And this has strengthened the path to add 100 GW of nuclear energy capacity by 2047.

Friends, 

You will be surprised to know that there is an untapped economic potential of Rs 100 lakh crore, even more than that, lying in our villages. I am repeating this figure before you again - Rs 100 lakh crore, this is not a small figure, this economic potential is present in the form of houses in the villages. Let me explain it to you in a simpler way. Now here in a city like Delhi, if your house is worth 50 lakhs, one crore, 2 crores, you also get a bank loan on the value of your property. If you have a house in Delhi, then you can take a loan of crores of rupees from the bank. Now the question is, houses are not only in Delhi, there are houses in villages too, there are owners of houses there too, why does it not happen there? Loans are not available on houses in villages because in India there were no legal documents for houses in villages, proper mapping could not be done. Therefore, the country and its citizens could not get the proper benefit of this power of the villages. And it is not just India's problem, people in the big countries of the world do not have property rights. Big international organizations say that the country which gives property rights to its people, its GDP increases.

Friends, 

To give property rights to the houses in villages in India we have started a Swamitva scheme. For this, we are conducting drone surveys in every village and mapping every house in the village. Today, property cards of village houses are being given to people across the country. The government has distributed more than two crore property cards and this work is going on continuously. Earlier, due to the absence of property cards, there were many disputes in the villages, people had to go to courts, all this has ended now. Now the villagers are getting loans from banks on these property cards, due to this the villagers are starting their own business, doing self-employment. Just the other day I was talking to the beneficiaries of this Swamitva Yojana on video conference. I met a sister from Rajasthan. She said that after getting my property card, I took a loan of Rs. 9 lakhs in the village and said that I started a business and I have repaid half the loan and now it will not take me much time to repay the entire loan and there is a possibility of getting more loans, what a confidence level.

Friends, 

The biggest beneficiary of all the examples I have given is the youth of my country. The youth, who are the biggest stakeholders of developed India. The youth, who are the X-Factor of today's India. This X means Experimentation Excellence and Expansion, Experimentation, that is, our youth have moved beyond the old ways and created new paths. Excellence means that the youth have set global benchmarks. And expansion means that innovation has been scaled up by our youth for 140 crore countrymen. Our youth can provide solutions to the country's major problems, but this capability has not been utilized properly earlier. Earlier governments did not even think that youth can also provide solutions to the country's problems through hackathons. Today we organize the Smart India Hackathon every year. So far 10 lakh youth have become a part of it. Many ministries and departments of the government have put forward many problems related to governance before them, told them to tell us what could be the solution. In the hackathon, our youth have developed about two and a half thousand solutions and given them to the country. I am happy that you have also taken this culture of hackathon forward. And I congratulate the youth who have won and I am happy that I got a chance to meet those young people.

Friends, 

In the last 10 years, the country has experienced a new age of governance. In the last decade, we have transformed the impact less administration into impactful Governance. When you go to the field, people often say that they have received the benefit of a particular government scheme for the first time. It is not that those government schemes did not exist earlier. Schemes existed earlier as well, but last mile delivery at this level is being ensured for the first time. You often conduct interviews of beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Earlier, houses for the poor were sanctioned on paper. Today, we build houses for the poor on the ground. Earlier, the entire process of building a house was government driven. The type of house to be built, what materials would be used, was decided by the government. We have made it owner driven. The government puts money in the beneficiary's account, the beneficiary himself decides what kind of house will be built. And we also held a country-wide competition for house design, put forward models of houses, involved people for designing, and decided things with public participation. Due to this, the quality of houses has also improved and houses are also getting completed at a faster speed. Earlier, half-constructed houses were built by joining bricks and stones, we have built the house of the poor's dreams. These houses have tap water, gas connection under the Ujjwala scheme, electricity connection under the Saubhagya scheme, we have not just built four walls, we have built life in those houses.

 Friends, 

National security is a very important aspect for the development of any country. In the last decade, we have worked a lot on security. You remember, earlier, breaking news of serial bomb blasts used to be shown on TV, there used to be special programmes on the network of sleeper cells. Today, all this has disappeared from both the TV screen and the Indian soil. Otherwise, earlier when you used to travel by train or go to the airport, you used to get warnings like, if there is an unclaimed bag lying there, do not touch it, today these 18-20 year old young people may not have heard that news. Today, Naxalism is also counting its last breaths in the country. Earlier, more than a hundred districts were in the grip of Naxalism, but today it is limited to less than two dozen districts. This was possible only when we worked with the spirit of nation first. We brought governance to the grassroot level in these areas. Within no time, thousands of kilometers long roads were built in these districts, schools and hospitals were built, 4G mobile network reached and the country is seeing the results today.

Friends, 

Today, Naxalism is being cleared from the jungles due to the decisive decisions of the government, but now it is spreading its roots in the urban centers. Urban Naxals have spread their network so fast that the political parties which were opposed to urban Naxals, whose ideology was once inspired by Gandhiji and which was connected to the roots of India, today Naxals have made inroads in such political parties. Today, the voice of Urban Naxals and their own language is heard there. From this, we can understand how deep their roots are. We have to remember that Urban Naxals are staunch opponents of both India's development and our heritage. By the way, Arnab has also taken up the responsibility of exposing Urban Naxals. Development is necessary for a developed India and strengthening the heritage is also necessary. And that is why we have to be cautious of Urban Naxals.

Friends, 

Today's India is touching new heights while facing every challenge. I am confident that all of you at Republic TV Network will always give a new dimension to journalism with the spirit of Nation First. With this belief that you should continue to catalyze the aspiration of a developed India through your journalism, I thank you very much and wish you all the best. Thank you!

DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.

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MJPS/VJ/AK/SS