Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with newly appointed Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat after the swearing-in ceremony in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, March 18. (Press Trust of India)

For its development, India needs a movement akin to the freedom movement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, March 18. “Similar to the freedom movement, we need a movement for development, where the collective aspirations propel the country’s growth,” Modi said, addressing the India Today Conclave here via video link. – @Siliconeer #Siliconeer #BJP #NaMo #NarendraModi @NarendraModi @NaMo @BJP

“We all should get involved in our dream of a new India, whose mantra will be ‘opportunity for all’ and an India of self-respect.

“For several decades, we had embarked in wrong directions with wrong policies,” Modi said.

“The decisions then were ‘election-driven’ or based on set notions of the officials, but this has changed now,” he said.

His government is not looking (at issues facing the country) with “tunnel vision” but with “total vision,” said the Prime Minister.

Referring to India Today Editor in Chief Aroon Purie’s remark describing him as the “disruptor-in-chief,” the PM said, “If there is a disruptor-in-chief, it is not Modi but the people of India who are entitled to this moniker.”

“The new India is not about ‘upkaar’ (favour) but about ‘avsar’ (opportunity). This is about opportunities for all,” said Prime Minister Modi.

“The people are coming together in the country today to finish bad things within (it). This will strengthen the foundation of the new India,” the PM said.

Seeking to allay apprehensions over some policies of his government, Modi said, “This is not an ideology to destroy systems. This is about ‘kaya kalp’ (transformation).

“We have changed the work culture,” Modi said adding the emphasis now is on re-engineering the processes to improve efficiency.

“We have focused on time-bound implementation and integrated thinking. Our processes are citizen-friendly,” he added.

“The way in which the GST was achieved is as important as the GST itself. The states have taken ownership of this,” he said.

“We believe in cooperative federalism. The GST process showed what the deliberative democracy is all about,” he said.

The PM said India’s economy is being transformed and the manufacturing sector is getting a boost.

The technology has undergone a drastic transformation in the last 20 years, Modi said adding the aspirations of the youths have to be kept in mind in this era.

On merits of the democracy, the Prime Minister said, “Bigger than the strength of the government is the people’s power.”

Dwelling on ‘the fast pace of development work’ after his government came to power, Modi said, “Our government made efforts to provide electricity to 12,000 villages which were without power for so many years even after the Independence.”

Work on village electrification is in progress in a transparent manner, Modi said.

“We brought changes to ensure that shopkeepers can keep shops open longer and this gives better economic opportunities to them,” he said.

Modi also spoke of “the increased pace of work” in the railways and road sectors.

“Next generation infrastructure is our focus area. We have deployed significant resources for railway and road sectors.

“By merging railway budget with the general budget we have ensured faster growth of not only the railways but the overall transport sector,” he said.

A roadmap has been prepared to make health-care accessible to everyone in the country, the PM said.

India is now among the top economies in the world, he said, citing India’s ranking in the World Economic Forum.

“‘Make in India’ is our biggest initiative. India is today the world’s sixth largest manufacturer,” the Prime Minister said.

Speaking about his government’s measures to do away with redundant laws and practices, Modi said, “Earlier the Union budget used to be presented at 5 pm. This was because during the British rule it would be morning in London, the time when their Parliament began. But in Atalji’s (Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s) tenure this practice was changed.

“We have advanced the budget by a month. We are thinking of taking it further,” he said.

There is a need to look at the transport sector in an integrated manner, the Prime Minister said.

Modi also spoke of the ambitious multi-purpose and multi-modal platform, PRAGATI, aimed at addressing the common man’s grievances and monitoring important programs and projects and revival of stalled Center-state projects.

“Under the Pragati program, so far Rs 8 lakh crore-worth projects which were pending have got the push,” he said.