Martin Luther King, Jr once said, “To other countries, I may go as a tourist, but to India, I come as a pilgrim.”
Sri Vishnu Purana, one of the 18 Mahapuranas, mentions in Book II Chapter III that the Gods themselves exclaim – “Happy are those who are born, even from the condition of gods, as men in Bhárata-Varsha, as that is the way to the pleasures of Paradise or the greater blessing of final liberation. …those men are fortunate who are born with perfect faculties in Bhárata-Varsha.” The rich legacy and resources of India have drawn from time immemorial, pilgrims and invaders alike. As India completed it’s 75 years of independence, and it gets close to wrapping up the 18th Lok Sabha polls, a clarion call by the PM to create a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047 assumes center-stage.
But, what entails a Viksit Bharat dream?
Pillars of Viksit Bharat
A developed India will have its foundation on the glorious trinity of Demography, Democracy, Diversity – complemented by ‘Sabka Prayas’. In other words, people-centric development will be at the heart of this dream. As deliberations within GoI commenced on detailing an action plan for ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ more than 2 years back, the Council of Ministers deliberated upon a ‘Whole of Government’ approach towards the vision document. More than 2,700 meetings, seminars, and workshops were held at various levels, 10 sectoral visions were paid attention to, and suggestions from more than 20 lakh youth were incorporated, into this grand roadmap.
In this first of a 2-part series, I will cover social impetus as accorded within the Viksit Bharat Mission, including upliftment of poor, youth empowerment, welfare for farmers, women empowerment, sustainability, infrastructure, inclusive development, health, and housing. In the next part, I will touch upon industry and economy.
Garib Kalyan – Direct Benefit Transfer has led to savings of INR 2.7 lakh crore. 25 crore people have been moved out of multi-dimensional poverty. This will continue with greater thrust.
Youth empowerment – Greater training and skill development of youth will form the bedrock for a developed India in 2047. 1.4 Crore youth have already been trained under the Skill India Mission, with 100 courses and 50 authorized centres enlisted. This trend will continue, with more youth being upskilled to make them employable. This is enabled by a clear focus on enhancing the spread of education and opening up more premier institutes across India.
Welfare of Annadata (Farmers) – PM Kisan Scheme has already been a huge helpline for the farming community. Under the scheme, INR 6,000 per year is made available to all landholding farming families, through a direct transfer to the beneficiary accounts. On 16th Feb of this year, the 16th instalment was released by PM from Yavatmal in Maharashtra. Around INR 3 lakh crores4 have already been disbursed to more than 11 Cr farmers under this scheme. As part of Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, to ensure that government benefits percolate to more than 2.6 Lakh Gram Panchayats, 90 lakh eligible farmers were added furthermore to this DBT scheme.
Through PM Fasal Bima Yojana, crop protection has been enhanced. As an example, for 2023, for the Kharif season, around 3 Crore hectares of area has been insured, covering 2.3 Crore farmers. Out of them, around 84% are small and marginal farmers. Greater thrust on farmer welfare, supported by increased procurement, will be a plank for Viksit Bharat dream.
Focus on Nari Shakti – A developed India will flourish when women are empowered. Some encouraging statistics here are worth mentioning. Female enrolment in higher education has gone up by 28% over the last 10 years, while STEM courses have seen 43% of female enrolment. The female labour force participation rate has notched up substantially too. The focus on this will be increased manifold over the next 5 years and beyond.
Sustainable development – In line with Para 19 of Article 4 of the Paris Agreement, India at the 26th Session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 26) announced in Nov 2021 its target of achieving Net Zero by 2070. To meet this target, Viksit Bharat mission plans to embark on viability gap funding for wind energy, enhancing coal gasification and liquefaction capacity, phased mandatory blending of CNG, PNG, compressed biogas, and financial assistance for procurement of biomass aggregation machinery.
PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana is a landmark step in this regard, that was launched by PM on Feb 15th, 2024. Households will be provided a subsidy, covering up to 40% of the cost, for solar panels. An expected 1 crore households will be benefited under this scheme. This will be a win-win for households, who will get free electricity, as well as the Government will expectedly save ₹75,000 Crore in electricity costs.
Thrust on e-buses for public transport and strengthening the e-vehicle ecosystem will be other priorities under the Viksit Bharat mission. The increase in non-fossil fuel installed electric capacity has already started showing remarkable headway2.
Focus on Infrastructure – This has been a significant achievement of the Central govt, and the thrust on this is going to increase over the next 5 years. Implementation of 3 major railway corridor programs under Gati Shakti, extensive improvement and expansion of airports under the UDAN scheme, and promotion of Vande Bharat and Metro Rail, are just some of the highlights. The pace of increased FDI and Capex in this space has aided infra development a lot more.
The pace of development of physical infrastructure has been enormously encouraging, and this will flourish further under the Viksit Bharat charter.
Inclusive Development – The Aspirational Districts Program (ADP) will be a key enabler here. Launched in January 2018, ADP focuses on development across 5 sectors – Healthcare and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Basic Infrastructure, Skill Development and Financial Inclusion. It kind of encapsulates what Viksit Bharat truly aims at. The focus is on the 112 most under-developed districts8 of India. The inclusivity progress is measured across 3C’s – Convergence, Competition, and Collaboration. The framework that ADP provides to districts is what sets their inclusive progress apart from districts not covered under ADP. The Net Resilience Scores9, an indicator to measure the effectiveness of this program, shows some stark improvements between 2018 and 2020.
Health
Cervical Cancer Vaccination for girls aged 9 – 14 years will be a priority as mentioned by FM Sitharaman during Interim Budget 2024-25. ‘Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0’ will be expedited, and will be implemented during 15th Finance Commission 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Universal Immunization Program (UIP), which is one of the largest public health programs in the world, and provides vaccination free of cost to all pregnant women and children, will be expedited further. The newly launched U-WIN platform, modelled on the lines of Co-WIN, will be rolled out at a fast pace nationwide, to manage immunizations and serve the goals of Mission Indradhanush. These will be taken forward in a dedicated manner under the Viksit Bharat mission.
Housing for All
This area has seen remarkable progress already. PM Awas Yojana (Urban) which has been in existence since June 2015 will provide pucca houses to all eligible beneficiaries in urban areas. As of date, 118.64 lakh houses13 have been sanctioned and INR 8.07 Lakh Crore total investments made. Under PM Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G), the provision of a pucca house to all houseless households and those living in kutcha or dilapidated houses is being implemented. As of 27th Sep 2022, 2 Cr houses had been constructed already under this flagship scheme. Viksit Bharat mission will ensure to accentuate outreach and enhancements of these schemes.
Bharat takes wings
A well-rounded, concerted focus across all social paradigms, will be the cornerstone to a developed India. The government and PMO are already working on a 100-day plan to be effected after they assume Office for a 3rd term, and that will set the stage further towards these goals.
“If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India!” – said French dramatist and novelist Romain Rolland. A new set of dreams that aspirational India is daring to chart out, courtesy of a strong and decisive political leadership, is slowly taking shape. And a Viksit Bharat Mission, that 1.4 BN Indians have sworn by, is firmly taking charge of that illustrious dream!
