Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden Independence Day speech this week from the historic Red Fort is expected to roll out concrete proposals with special emphasis on infrastructure, employment generation, an ambitious financial inclusion plan and his pet project of cleaning the Ganga.
Indian media said the new incumbent is apparently eager to showcase his vision for the future. The speech is expected to be the PM’s answer to the immediate issues of inflation, employment and entrepreneurship, corruption and price rise.
Inputs from various ministries are being collected and collated by an informal group of ministers that includes Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, HRD Minister Smriti Irani, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar and Power Minister Piyush Goyal, The Business Line reported.
“It is not a formal committee or anything. We are simply collecting inputs from the ministries and making a draft for the Prime Minister’s perusal,” one of the ministers engaged in the ongoing preparations told BusinessLine.
Among his ambitious plans expected to be unveiled is the massive financial inclusion drive that envisages a bank account for 150 million Indians by August 2018.
Cleaning of the Ganga and accompanying projects such as setting up sewage treatment facilities in major cities along the river bank and building hydro-electric projects are expected to be announced in the PM’s Independence Day address.
Plans for employment generation through a renewed thrust on research and development (R&D) may also be part of Modi’s speech.
He is expected to talk also about the long-term steps the Government is taking to rein in inflation.
Some measures may include putting in place strict rules and special courts to stop hoarding and black-marketing; setting up a price stabilisation fund; unbundling FCI operations into procurement, storage and distribution for greater efficiency; leveraging technology to disseminate real-time data to farmers, on production, prices, imports, stocks and overall availability; creating a national agricultural market and promoting specific crops and vegetables linked to regional food habits.
Plans may also be unveiled with regard to development of next generation infrastructure — a gas grid on the lines of power grids, national optical fibre network, railway modernisation, building world-class ports, an IIT, IIM and AIIMS in every State, new cities, development of twin-city network, satellite cities, and so on.
Besides the initiatives to increase farm productivity — increase in public investment, bringing down the cost of agricultural inputs, modernisation and technological support — steps for industrial promotion may also be announced.
Single-window clearance of projects, fast-tracking environmental clearances, renewal of MSME sector and high priority to manufacturing with adequate infrastructure support — rail network, ports, 24-hour power, roads network — are some other measures the PM is expected to touch upon in his address.
A new department for skill development under HRD minister Smriti Irani is also among Modi in his first ever Independence Day speech on August 15.
“We have been told at the meeting that August 14 is the deadline for creating the new department for skill development,” a senior government official said, adding that Modi was keen to showcase creation of the department is a big deliverable in his Independence Day speech.
The purpose is to develop bold ideas, concrete policies, initiatives and interventions to help develop employable skills on a mass scale to meet the needs of the industry and help youth enter the job market.
One commentator said “the eyes and ears are thus open to what the PM will say on August 15. He will lay out the road map for the year, how he plans to, and has started creating, jobs, curb price rise, work on roads, rail and ports, and to grease the wheels of the Indian economy. There will be rhetoric, a lot of it. There will be drama, alliteration and allegory. Mr Modi pretty much bears the entire burden of expectations on his shoulders alone. He derives his power from the people who voted for him. But, when he speaks from the Red Fort, this man of humble origins will be speaking to 1.2 billion Indians. “

The 68th Independence Day of India will be celebrated on 15th August 2014 (Friday) at 10:00 hrs. at the Consulate General of India, 201-325 (3rd floor–Conference Hall) Howe Street, Vancouver BC. Consulate General of India, Vancouver cordially invites all Indian nationals, people of Indian origin and friends of India to participate in the Independence Day celebrations.