Mumbai: Union Home Minister Amit Shah today said the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A permanently integrated Kashmir with India.
“Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) provided citizenship rights to persecuted refugees, and the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, permanently integrated Kashmir with India,” he said.
Shah was addressing the IGF Annual Investment Summit-NXT10 in Mumbai, Maharashtra today. On this occasion, many dignitaries, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, were present.
Shah said the Modi government has taken more than 50 transformative decisions in its 10-year tenure, recognized globally for changing the direction and destiny of India. He highlighted key decisions, such as demonetization in 2016 to curb corruption and counterfeit currency, the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017, significant steps to address the issues of Non-Performing Assets (NPA), and the expansion of the digital landscape through Jan Dhan, Aadhar, Mobile (JAM) trinity. Shah stated that the surgical and air strikes sent a strong message to the World that no one can challenge India’s army and borders.
He emphasized that Prime Minister Modi has ended the practice of triple talaq, granting rights to millions of Muslim mothers and sisters. Regarding education, Shah mentioned the introduction of the New Education Policy, which reflects the fragrance of India’s future and our values. He highlighted the Nari Shakti Vandan Act, which brought 33% reservation for women in legislative assemblies and parliament, empowering women in policy-making. He highlighted the government’s efforts to replace the criminal justice system created by the British with three new laws, ensuring that justice is delivered in any case within three years of the trial, and eliminating delays and outdated practices.
Amit Shah said that the upcoming months will witness elections in India, where democracy marked its beginning. He stated that the upcoming elections in India will shape the destiny of the country for the next 25 years. Home Minister emphasized the significant transformations that took place in every sector in the last 10 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shah pointed out that the decisions made in the next 5 years will determine where India will stand in the centenary year of independence in 2047. He highlighted that these elections are not only about democracy but also a celebration of synergy between democracy and security, ensuring the well-being of the poor, public welfare, tradition, and technology.
The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah stated that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India is progressing towards being self-confident, and self-reliant. He added that India now has a dynamic government from a dormant one, having progressive growth, and moving towards becoming a top economy from its earlier fragile state.
He mentioned that this journey will continue for decades, and the goals set by Prime Minister Modi for India, to be fully developed, self-reliant, and counted among the top economies by 2047, will certainly be achieved. He emphasized that we have the performance of the past 10 years and a roadmap for the next 25 years to attain these goals.
Amit Shah emphasized that to understand the changes in the past 10 years, we have to compare these transformations against those of the previous regime. This would be the best parameter to evaluate the performance of the present government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He pointed out that in 2014, the economy was deteriorating, investor confidence was low, corruption scandals worth 12 lakh crore had shaken the nation’s confidence, crony capitalism was at its peak, inflation was soaring, fiscal deficit was out of control, and ease of doing business ranking was significantly low. The country’s security system was also weak. He explained that the people’s decision to give a decisive mandate to Narendra Modi in 2014 led to the formation of this government. Shah mentioned that before this, the country experienced 30 years of political instability, and after a long time, a full mandate was achieved by any political party. He stated that from there, the growth story of India began with development in security, education, innovation, and the economy. Shah mentioned that the average inflation rate between 2004 and 2014 was 8.2 percent, reaching double digits in 2010, 2011, and 2013. However, today, it has been consistently maintained below 5 percent. He highlighted the Modi government’s efforts in correcting banking and forex mismanagement, which paved the way for a new type of politics in the country.
Union Home Minister said for a long time, our country’s politics was plagued by four evils – dynastic politics, casteism, corruption, and appeasement – with no place for merit. He mentioned that in the last 10 years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, not only in parliament but in all elections across the country, the politics of direct performance has been established.
Shah said that during the previous government’s tenure, the country experienced policy paralysis, where every minister considered themselves as the Prime Minister, and the actual Prime Minister was not acknowledged. He mentioned that in the last 10 years of the previous government, not a single policy was formulated. In contrast, Prime Minister Modi, in 10 years, has crafted over 40 policies, shaping the country’s economy and presenting the best example of a policy-driven state.
The Union Home Minister mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken the most significant task of providing the basic amenities to millions of people and connecting them with the country’s development. He stated that PM Modi has provided gas cylinders to 10 crore people, toilets to 12 crore people, piped water supply to 14 crore people, annual financial assistance of 6 thousand rupees to 11 crore farmers, homes to 4 crore people, and healthcare coverage of up to 5 lakh rupees to 60 crore people. Shah emphasized that no country can progress by leaving 60 crore people behind, and today we have a market of 130 crore people.
Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Modi has made many reforms in the last 10 years. He said that in 2013-14, there were 91 thousand kilometers of National Highways in the country, which increased to 1,45,000 km in 2023. He said that PM Modi has set a target of reducing logistical expenses in the country by 10 percent by 2030 so that our products will become more competitive in the World. Shah mentioned that the pace of construction of National Highways has increased to 28 Km per day from 11.6 Km per day, earlier there were four thousand Road Over Bridges (ROBs) in the country, and now there are 11 thousand ROBs. Earlier there were only five metro cities, now the number has touched 20, and the number of airports has increased from 74 to 150 in the country today. He said that the economy does not run only on figures, to change the economy there is a need to change all the things that affect the economy and the Modi government has worked on this aspect in the last 10 years. He said that capital expenditure in Railways has increased from Rs 2 lakh crore to Rs 5 lakh 22 thousand crores, and in Ports and Tourism it has also been doubled. The capital expenditure in the last budget of the previous government was Rs 2 lakh crore, which has increased to Rs 11 lakh crore in the interim budget presented by the Modi government last month. He said that these figures show how the country is moving forward in a planned manner.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation stated that the average GDP in 2013-14 was 6.9 percent which is 8.4 percent today, and per capita income was 3889 US dollars, which has become 6000 US dollars today. The value of export of electronic items which stood at 7.6 billion US dollars, has increased to 23 billion US dollars today, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has increased from 305 billion US dollars to 600 billion US dollars and the number of start-ups has increased from 350 to 1.17 lakh. The index of the Bombay Stock Exchange has increased from 22 thousand to 73 thousand, which is a huge indicator of our robust economy. He said that during the previous government, the number of direct taxpayers was 4.7 crore, which has increased to 8.18 crore today and indirect taxpayers have increased from 60 lakh to 1 crore 40 lakh. In the Global Innovation Index, India has risen from 81st to 40th position. People using broadband in India were 6 crores in 2013-14 which is 90 crores today. Shah added that 10 years ago we were the 11th largest economy in the world, today India has become the 5th largest economy.
