Rajeev Chandrasekhar
(The writer is Minister of State for Electronics & IT, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship)
Eight years ago in 2014, a country tired of 6 decade-old Congress-type politics of a dynasty and its motley coalition and corrupt Governance, voted PM Narendra Modi into office as Indian Prime Minister. He promised change, He promised a new direction in Governance and the last 8 years have seen him steadily and strongly progressing towards building the New India.
Before 2014, India's narrative was simply about a big market opportunity. This opportunity came with accepted caveats of Governance dysfunction, Corruption, Nepotism, Policy inconsistency, Red-tape and Crony Capitalism and Scams. This state of affairs was accepted as normal as far back as in the 1980s when the then PM Rajiv Gandhi accepted that for every one paise that leaves Delhi, only 15 paise reaches the citizens.
In pre-Modi India, a few politically connected families and groups cornered all opportunities and capital to the exclusion of the vast majority of Indians that also desired opportunity and progress. For instance, a Credit Suisse report named 'House of Debt' divulged that 98% of the net worth of India's entire Banking System was cornered by 10 influential families in India. Entrepreneurship and Successful Startups were not a norm but only rare infrequent exceptions.
India, as a Nation was colloquially referred to as an Elephant - Big, Slow Moving and Unwieldy. Our revenues from Tax collection remained low & our Tax to GDP ratio - is abysmal as compared to other major developing economies.
In 2014, to make up for the lost decades 2004-14, the citizens of India voted for change and gave a resounding mandate to Narendra Modi - a person who had worked his way from a poor family to being CM of Gujarat through simply grit, hard work and service. In Gujarat, he had already demonstrated the contrast in this political and governance thinking with a focus on medium to long-term transformation rather than short term populism with multiyear projects like Sabarmati Riverfront Development. He has received further successive mandates in 2019 and in many state elections that exceed even the 2014 mandate.
First, 3-4 years he spent simply addressing the deep scars and damages to the Economy, on institutions of Governance and on rebuilding the trust that citizens had lost in Government. PM Narendra Modi inherited a shattered economy, Banking & financial sector and an overall unresponsive and archaic government. He steadily rebuilt the Economy, financial sector, Investor Confidence and trust in Government. He has transformed the work culture within Government – making Government work truly untiring, relentless crusade for change and prosperity for Indians.
There are countless reforms and Governance initiatives that have successfully steered India into its current strength. But his commitment to Technology very early on is a testament to his vision and deep instincts about opportunities for India and Indians. The Digital India program launched by PM Modi is one such example.
Digital India Programme was launched with three clear objectives. First and most importantly was to transform citizens' Lives, Governance & Democracy, second, to Expand Digital Economy, Jobs, Opportunities & Investments and third, to emerge as a leader in future of Technology i.e. be a source rather than a consumer of the future Technologies.
A report carding of Digital India's performance and each of these objectives shows the big progress made on each. E.g. every rupee released from Delhi reaches directly the bank accounts of beneficiaries without any delay or corruption. The government has so far transferred more than Rs 17 lakh crore through DBT without any leakage or middlemen while saving Rs 2.2 lakh crore thereby turning the old Narrative of Democracies being leaky & Dysfunctional on its head.
Today, India has the world's fastest-growing and most vibrant startup ecosystem with close to 70,000 registered Startups & around 100 Unicorns with a Unicorn being produced every week. The growth trajectory of these Startups was determined by their hard work, passion, ability to innovate and availability of capital & not by political connections or family backgrounds, turning the Narrative about the concentration of opportunities only for a select few - on its head.
Thanks to the most significant reforms in Indirect taxation through GST and tax compliance India has registered the highest-ever collections from tax revenue from Rs 22 lakh crore in FY 21 to Rs 27 lakh crore in FY 22 registering a growth of a whopping 22% thereby shattering another old Narrative of low tax revenues and limitation on Governments ability to spend. This year alone the Government of India is investing over Rs 7.5 lakh crore in infrastructure building – investing in a better New India for coming generations – an unprecedented number given that for decades India has spent very little on infrastructure investments.
When the world was hit by the biggest black Swan event - Covid, it posed a litmus test for leadership across the globe as all Nations had to deal with this unpredicted threat to lives and livelihoods. The superpowers of the world continue to grapple with 3rd and 4th waves but India, under PM Narendra Modi, emerged as a Resilient Nation, successfully delivering over 200 crore vaccination shots by pulling off the world's largest Voluntary and tech-driven vaccination programme. India protected its small businesses and its poor – the poor continue to receive food grains because of the world's largest-ever food grain distribution programme launched by PM during the Covid pandemic PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana – PMGKAY. And even as the world's economies falter and sputter, PM Modi's steady economic policies have resulted in India being the fastest-growing major economy in the world, attracting the highest ever FDIs (the US $ 83.57). India also set new records for its highest-ever Goods (the US $ 400 Bn) and Services exports (the US $ 254 Bn).
Digital India, to a large extent, played a significant role in India's resilient response to the pandemic. It ensured that the Government could reach out to people in the remote parts of the country. Health, Education and other essential services migrated swiftly to the online mode. It would not be an aberration to say that post-Covid, India emerged as a Preeminent Nation in the use of technology for a resilient economy, citizenry & governance.
Thanks to the relentless hard work and focus on the future of New India of PM Narendra Modi, India post-covid has emerged as a trusted partner to the world and we are reimagining our ambitions and roadmap to a 10 Trillion Dollar Economy. The Rapid Digitalization of the world along with a new focus on Trust in the Global supply chains for digital products and services presents a tremendous opportunity to India in general and its youth in particular. PM Narendra Modi has referred to the coming decade as New India's Techade. Young Indians, Startups are presented with opportunities like never before in the history of India as a result of the last 8 years of dedicated hard work of PM Narendra Modi's government and it is now up to all of us in a collective Sabka Prayas to realize and actualize New India's Economic potential and opportunity. (PIB)