As India nears an end to the coronavirus lockdown 3.0, PM Modi addressed the nation today through television saying that this pandemic has brought a message for India. The world is in a state of war against COVID-19 and we have to move ahead, however, we have to protect ourselves from the pathogen as we move on. The virus has infected more than 42 lakh people but “we will not give up or accept defeat,” he said. Over 3 lakh people have succumbed to the infection, he says, condoling the deaths.
Saying that India has been an example for progress in the last century, Modi said that the country needs to become self-reliant in the world after the coronavirus pandemic.
“When the crisis started then not even a single PPE kit was manufactured in India, only a few N95 masks were available. Today two lakh PPE kits and 2 lakh N95 masks are manufactured in India daily”. This reflects our ability to be self-dependent, he added.
“When India speaks of self-reliance, it does not advocate for a self-centred system. In India’s self-reliance there is a concern for the whole world’s happiness, cooperation and peace,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.
Narendra Modi said that India runs on five pillars: “Economy, infrastructure, system, vibrant demography, demand”.
We have to change disasters into opportunities, said Modi while announcing revised economic packages for self- reliant India. “As a nation, we are standing are standing at a crucial crossroads. This crisis also presents us with an opportunity. We have changed the disaster into an opportunity,” he said.
The prime minister also said that be it tuberculosis, malnutrition, or polio, India has fought those crises well and those programs had global impacts. He added that the world has adopted India’s initiatives like international solar alliance, yoga day etc, which are India’s gift towards the humanity.
PM Modi announces revised economic pakage for ‘self-reliant’ India
“I announce a special economic package today. This will play an important role in the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’. The announcements made by the government over COVID, decisions of RBI and today’s package totals to Rs 20 Lakh Crores. This is 10% of India’s GDP,” Modi said.
To prove the resolve of a self-reliant India, this package includes- land, labour, liquidity and law, said PM Modi. The grand palace of self-reliance will rest on five pillars. The first pilar is Economy, an economy that will bring quantum jump, not incremental change; the second pillar- Infrastructure that can be the identity of modern India; third pillar- System which will be based on technology-driven processes able to fulfil 21st-century dreams, not rules and regulations of last century; fourth pillar- our Democracy, as the world’s largest and the vibrant democracy is the strength of India; and the fifth pillar- Demand, the cycle of demand and supply in our economy is our strength, and it should be used to its full potential.
“This economic package is for our cottage industries, small-scale industries, for MSME”, which he said, “is the means of livelihood of crores of people, which is the strong basis of our resolve for self-reliant India”.
This economic package is for the laborer of the country, for the farmer of the country who is working hard for the countrymen in every situation, every season. This economic package is for the middle class of our country, which pays taxes honestly, contributes to the development of the country, said PM Modi.
The Prime Minister said that due to the reforms done in the last six years, India has been able to handle the current crisis better. But now there is time to expand the scope of the reforms, to give it more heights, these reforms will take place in the entire supply chain associated with agriculture, so that farmers are empowered and in future agriculture is pleased impacted due to a crisis like Coronavirus.
“Everything is possible with self-reliance, self-power and self-confidence, self-reliance helps the country to prepare for the competition in the global supply chain”, the PM asserted.
Details of the economic package will be announced by the Finance Ministry soon.
4th phase of lockdown will be completely different from the earlier three phases
Talking about the next round of lockdown, PM Modi said that lockdown 4.0 will be based on new guidelines which will be announced before May 18. “4th phase of COVID-19 lockdown will be completely new, with a completely new set of rules”, said PM.
We must not restrict our lives only around coronavirus, Modi said in his speech on Tuesday, and added that the fourth phase of the coronavirus lockdown in India will be completely different from the earlier three phases of the lockdown.
This was PM Modi’s fifth address to the nation since the country was put under complete lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The last time the prime minister had addressed the nation was on April 14. The Prime Minister’s address comes a day after he held a meeting with Chief Ministers of all states and Union Territories to discuss the strategy for easing relaxations after the third lockdown ends May 17. He asked the Chief Ministers to share with him a broad strategy by May 15 on how to deal with various nuances after the gradual easing of the lockdown.
