Mita Nath
(mitanathbora7@gmail.com)
Building a nation is way different from running a nation. In the words of Swami Vivekananda, "Each nation has the destiny to fulfil, each nation has a message to deliver, each nation has a mission to accomplish." "And three things are necessary to make every man great, every nation great — the powers of goodness; absence of jealousy and suspicion; and helping all who are trying to be and do good."
PM Narendra Modi, as I see, encompasses all the attributes that Swami Vivekananda wrote a century ago. A selfless, non-corrupt, empowering and encouraging leader with compassion for every citizen is what Narendra Modi is.
Multiple missions that he undertook as soon he became the PM of India from instilling a love for the nation-nationalism, and national unity and driving the zeal to passionately contribute to the nation in every individual while making sacrifices saw a sea change India has ever experienced since the freedom movement. Bringing respect for India from across the world in almost every aspect that affects an Indian life, whether it be about India leading the world on the economic front, on digitization, extending help and support, supplying vaccines to nations during the deadly pandemic, providing monetary help to countries facing economic hardship, bankruptcy and to exporting wheat to counties running short of food production and supplies. Steps towards saving Indian lives, taking up the challenge to protect every citizen by vaccinating almost all evacuating Indian medical students from Ukraine in the midst of a war, to increasing the value of Indian currency in current times, he left no stone unturned to make India great- the true sign of a Nation Builder.
Empowering changemakers
His mission to transform the Padma Shree awards with grassroots social transformers and change makers getting the award brought a huge paradigm shift India had never seen or could imagine. The silent relentless contributors to the community, society, environment, climate, and those who have been continuously working for the deprived, the voiceless, for mother earth without any expectation of recognition, name or fame went unnoticed and unacknowledged. Modi changed that perspective and then India saw a series of humble change-makers from various nooks and corners of the country, some walking barefoot and others in chappal reaching the Rashtrapati Bhavan, having their name called and awarded, capturing the front page of top news dailies across the country. Moment of Indian glory - A Nation builder leader promoting grassroots nation builders.
Empowering rural India
PM Modi's constant endeavour to ensure help reaches the last mile beneficiary saw rural India uplifted and developed like never before. Making every policy and scheme easily accessible to the last person of the last house at the last border village, digitizing villages and providing rural households with all necessary to enhance their standard of living has changed the status of India's villages. Mission after the mission is run to empower rural India and ensure their active participation. While digitalizing land records Modi says it 'is a mantra for development & improving trust in the villages with the help of modern technology.' India shines only when India's rural shines.
Empowering the army
The Indian military has undergone a fundamental transformation, gaining more muscle than it ever has in the past under PM Modi. There has been a structural and intellectual transformation, defence reforms like the creation of the Department of Military Affairs, the appointment of Gen. Bipin Rawat as the first chief of defence staff, building up India's domestic defence industry and enhancing military diplomacy are just few. Not missing out on his effort to drastically improve the living conditions of soldiers, especially in the remote and inhospitable areas and his without fail annual tradition of celebrating the festival of Diwali with soldiers of the Indian Army, being away from home with those away from home.
Empowering youths
Empowering our youth who are the future nation builder, is empowering India's future is what PM believes in. And true to his words over the last eight years he took several steps for the empowerment and holistic development of the youth of India, from bringing in the revolutionary National Education Policy that offers flexible education to suit the needs of the 21st century to a more holistic education that can transform India into a global superpower of knowledge and make our youths leading on every front.
He put in place multiple other youth-related schemes to facilitate the growing needs and aspirations of youth, from Startup India, Skill India Mission to Fit India Movement, and Scheme of National Youth Corps (NYC) to set up a group of disciplined and dedicated youth who have the inclination and spirit to engage in the task of nation building, Scheme for Assistance to National Sports Federations, etc. His zeal to motivate youths to bring out their best performance under the TOPS for Olympic podium finish saw our sportsperson secure the maximum medals in Tokyo Olympics and also finish in the top 5 in Commonwealth Games. The after-competition meeting and lunch with him have become a symbol of youth empowerment the world over.
Empowering women
Swami Vivekananda with great emphasis said, "All nations have attained greatness by paying proper respect to women. That country and that nation which does not respect women have never become great". PM Modi's mission to empower women, saw him make women the focal point of every policy, and every scheme and give them the dignity they deserve. From providing toilets under Swachh Bharat so that women need not go miles early morning away from home for morning ablutions to providing gas cylinders under Ujjwala Yojana so that they need not cook under the smoke and heat of the wooden fire that affects their health, to providing water under Har Ghar Jal scheme and Nal se Jal Mission to empowering them having their own bank account under Jan Dhan and countless more.
Every decision he makes takes into consideration the need and aspirations of women. He is aware of the hardships women go through at every stage of their life cycle and hence created programmes that make women's life easier, reducing their trouble, giving them growth opportunities to move ahead and opening all doors from armed forces to mines, to start-ups.
Empowering India's future
His mission to digitize India is one of the most futuristic steps that no other country in the world has achieved, whether it is providing Digital Vaccine Certificate to DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) into the Jan Dhan account. It's a known fact by now that the digitization progress of India with every Indian from the remotest corner of the country having a bank account is incomparable, providing a digital vaccine certificate is something the world is admiring, including the US that has only issued paper vaccine certificate.
Modi's declaration and intent to go digital can be seen in his vision of a better life by assimilating digital technologies. Various technology ecosystems have been championed, including the India stack and UPI, amongst others and the potential of such initiatives to transform society and the country is enormous. In coming times, digital technology will change the way we work, play, educate, pray, and bond with others and India's move in this direction is most proactive. Under Modi, India is working on ways to leverage digital technologies to create new and transform old organizations and by building digitally engendered organizational capabilities.
Empowering other nations
His helping attitude, from providing 235 million total supplies of vaccines to 98 countries reeling under the effects of the deadly COVID19 pandemic while India itself was also suffering to shipping 1.8 m tonnes of wheat to 18 countries battling food grain crisis to being the largest assistance provider to Sri Lanka during its worst post-pandemic economic crisis are unmatched.
Even prior, Modi under his Neighbours First policy went the extra mile in providing aid, first to 6 neighbouring nations - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives totalled over Rs 21,100 crore by 2018. Our PM provided drinking water to the Maldives under OpNeer in 2014, post-earthquake rebuilt houses in Nepal and undertook Op Maitri to provide aid to Nepal in 2015. When Indonesia suffered the tsunami in 2018, when Madagascar suffered the cyclone in 2020 and when Bangladesh sought relief for Rohingyas in 2017 Modi provided the same under various operations. He helped Mauritius build its Metra and Supreme Court, provided 40,000 litres of Malathion 96% ULV pesticides to Iran via Chabahar port and supplied 75,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan as part of humanitarian assistance in 2020.
An Indian for Indian
Under the Modi administration Operation Sanket Mochan saw the rescue of Indians from Sudan in 2016, Operation Nisar saw rescue operation in Yemen in 2018 and Operation Devi Shati rescued Indians stuck in Afghanistan in 2021. Vande Bharat Mission saw 7 million Indians being repatriated during the pandemic. But this is not new, as CM Gujarat in 2011, he got detained Indians in Shenzhen, China released. For the welfare of NRIs and PIOs, he took taking measures for taking care of those working abroad. He is an example of how nation-building can be achieved by being perseverant, persistent and all sacrificing.