India celebrates its 73rd Independence today and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoists the national flag for 6th consecutive time in Delhi’s Red Fort. PM addressed the nation at 7:30 pm and he spoke about the key roles of the government for the coming months. He also discussed the issues varying from Jammu and Kashmir to flooding and water conservation. He spoke for around 1 hour 45 minutes, it is his 2nd longest speech in his career.
Here are the key highlights of the Prime Minister’s speech
- The government will begin Jal Jeevan Mission and will spend 3.5 trillion rupees on the project. Idea is to bring piped water to every household in India which will provide clean water to drink. “I want to declare from the Red Fort that we will proceed forward with Jal Jeevan Mission. The Centre and states will operate towards it and in coming years more than Rs 3.5 lakh crore will be allocated,” Modi said.
- In a major decision, PM Modi also announced the making of a chief of defense staff (CDS) as the administrator of the tri-services. Prime Minister Modi said the armed forces are the treasure of every Indian. He said in the changing time, there is a need for the forces to sharpen coordination. “Our government has decided to have a Chief of Defence Staff- CDS and this is going to make the forces even more powerful,” Modi said.
- Modi also mentioned about bringing the triple talaq rule down. He said Muslim sisters and mothers are protected and are made a part of India’s developing story. PM Modi said that his government did not spend any time in signing into law legislation to safeguard the freedoms of Muslim women. “If we can fight against child marriage and dowry, why not Triple Talaq,” he remarked.
- Talking about revoking Article 370 in the constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Modi said India is one nation with one constitution. He said the government took a very great decision on scrapping the unknown status on J&K, said his government neither nurses problems nor keeps them pending, it always takes key decisions in a significant time.
- The government has also decided to invest Rs 100 lakh crore on the country’s infrastructure. The primary intention is to develop advanced infrastructure to help approximately double the size of the Indian economy to $5 trillion in five years. “Today, according to the needs of the 21st century, modern infrastructure is being anchored up,” Modi said.
- PM Modi also made a new tone for holding Lok Sabha and Assembly polls collectively, stating that the concept of ‘one nation, one election’ is necessary to make the country great. During his address to the nation on the 73rd Independence Day, he said today India was speaking about simultaneous polls which were a good thing.
- PM Narendra Modi also invited for making India plastic-free. PM Modi requested upon citizens to reject the use of plastic. “Can we save India from single-use plastic? The time for performing such an idea has come. May team be prepared to work in this direction. Let a significant action be made on 2nd October,” Modi said.
- To promote tourism in the country, the Prime Minister ask all Indians to visit at least 15 tourist destination across the nation before 2022 to boost tourism in the nation.
- PM Modi has discussed the need to boost exports and shipping in the country. “Time has come to think about how we can boost exports; each region of India has so much to offer,” Modi said.
- He also spoke about the subject of population growth in India. He said, “We all have to remember; can we do fairness to the hopes of our children? There is a need to have more inclusive dialogue and awareness on population explosion.”
