–Nitin Saxena
New Delhi: Wearing a saffron-white colour turban, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clarion call for becoming self-reliant and expressed that the nation had the potential to accomplish it which subsequently will herald a new era in the country’s economy, opening employable venues.
Addressing the nation (an annual feature) from the ramparts of the Moghul-built Red Fort on the 74th Independence day after unfurling the national flag, Prime Minister Modi stressed the need for multi-level connectivity to boost the infrastructure and acknowleged the ‘corona warriors’ for their selfless services during the pandemic which had halted lot of activities in the country. He paid tributes to the Indian soldiers who had shown their mettle in Ladakh (without mentioning the fist-fight with Chinese soldiers or their holding a part of the Indian territory)
Talking about bio-diversity, he said that project Dolphin will soon be introduced and National Digital Health Mission is on the anvil which would store all health-related details of an individuals, he disclosed.
Skipping the date for marketing the much-touted corona vaccine in the country, he said that India was working on it. Listing the freebies of the government during the last six years that benefitted the people including the Indian farmers was the main thrust of his speech interspersed with Sanskrit cantos, Mr Modi emphasised the need for ‘vocal for local’ ( buy indigenous goods) and said that ‘Make for the world’ should replace the earlier ‘Make in India’ announcement.
Taking the telephonic reaction of his speech, Mr Arvind Mishra, working with a production house said that the content was a repetition. “Middle-class community was expecting more from him but he mislead the nation by say that online transactions, internet, had eased the life of common man,” he added.
A Indian housewife, Suman, said that it was not necessary to talk about the distribution of sanitary pads in the rural areas. “Most of the non-governmental organisations in the country has been distributing the pads and teaching them about hygiene. This is absurd,” she pointed out.
