Releases a commemorative postage stamp celebrating 100 years of Hindustan Times
Today, India is filled with unprecedented aspirations and we have made these aspirations a cornerstone of our policies: PM
Our government has provided citizens with a unique combination, of Employment through Investment, Dignity through Development: PM
The approach of our government is Spend Big For The People, Save Big For The People: PM
This century will be India’s century: PM
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 16, 2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2024 in New Delhi on Saturday. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister remarked that the Hindustan Times was inaugurated 100 years ago by Mahatma Gandhi and congratulated the Hindustan Times (HT) for its historic journey of 100 years and all the people who were associated with it since its inauguration.
He wished them the best for their future endeavours. Having visited the exhibition of HT at the venue, Shri Modi said it was more of an experience and urged all the delegates to visit it. He added that he witnessed the old newspapers of the days when India got its independence and constitution was enforced. Shri Modi acknowledged that many stalwarts like Martin Luther King, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookherjee, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dr M.S Swaminathan had written articles for HT.
Recalling his participation in the 1st Bodoland Mahotsov on Friday, Mr Modi remarked that he was astonished to find poor media coverage of the event. He added that it was a great achievement when the youth and people had given up violence after 5 decades and were celebrating a cultural event in Delhi. He added that the lives of the people had transformed after the 2020 Bodo Peace Accord. As part of the HT Summit exhibition, Modi saw pictures of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai and said there was a time when the people felt unsafe in their own house and cities due to the terror sponsored by the neighbouring countries. However, he added, now the times have changed and terrorists in their own houses don’t feel safe.
The Prime Minister remarked that in its 100 years, Hindustan Times has seen 25 years of slavery and 75 years of freedom along with the dispensations that have made India’s fate, shown direction to India along with the capability and wisdom of the common man of India. He added that experts have often made mistakes in recognizing this capability of the common citizen of India. Touching upon history, Shri Modi said when the British were leaving India, it was said that the country would disintegrate & break down and when emergency was imposed, some people had assumed that now the emergency will remain forever while some people and institutions had taken refuge with those who imposed the emergency. Even at that point of time, Shri Modi said, the citizens of India stood up and uprooted the emergency. Further explaining the strength of common man, Shri Modi hailed the spirit of common citizens in fighting a strong battle against the COVID pandemic.
Touching upon the past, the Prime Minister said there was a time in the 1990’s when India had seen 5 elections in a span of 10 years evident of the instability in the country. He added that while the experts writing in the newspapers had predicted that things would continue in the same manner, the citizens of India had once again proved them wrong. Shri Modi said that today, there is talk of uncertainty and instability all around the world with many countries in the world seeing new dispensations coming to power, whereas in India, people had elected the same government for the third time.
Talking about policies in the past, Shri Modi said the phrase ‘Good economics is bad politics’ was being promoted by experts and supported by the Governments. This, he said, had become a means to the earlier Governments to cover up bad governance and inefficiency. He added that this had led to an unbalanced development in the country which had hampered the trust of the people in the Government. The Prime Minister remarked that his Government had won back the trust of the people by ensuring the Mantra of Progress of the people, Progress by the people and Progress for the people. He added that the Government’s aim was to build a new and developed India and the people of India had entrusted them with the capital of their trust. Shri Modi remarked that despite misinformation, disinformation in the age of social media, the citizens of India have faith in us, in our government.
The Prime Minister emphasized that it was imperative to understand another approach of the government to understand the growth trajectory that India is on today. He added that the approach was “Spend Big For The People and Save Big For The People”. Explaining the same, Shri Modi said, India’s union budget is Rs. 48 lakh crore today as against Rs. 16 lakh crore in 2014. He added that today’s capital expenditure is more than Rs. 11 lakh crore as against Rs. 2.25 lakh crore in 2013-14. He further added that the capital expenditure was being spent on new hospitals, schools, roads, railways, research facilities and many such public infrastructure. The Prime Minister underlined that along with increasing expenditure on the public, the Government was also saving the public’s money. Presenting the facts and figures, Shri Modi said that the leakage that has been stopped by DBT has saved the country Rs. 3.5 lakh crore while Free treatment under Ayushman Bharat Yojana has saved Rs 1.10 lakh crore for the poor. He added that Medicines available at 80% discount at Jan Aushadhi Kendras have saved Rs 30 thousand crore for the citizens while Controlling the prices of stents and knee implants has saved thousands of crores of rupees for the people. Continuing the list, he added the Ujala scheme has saved Rs 20 thousand crore in electricity bills for the people while Diseases have reduced due to Swachh Bharat Mission and this has saved about Rs 50 thousand for every family in the villages. Citing UNICEF report, Shri Modi said that the family which has its own toilet is also saving about Rs 70 thousand and WHO study conducted on 12 crore people whose homes have tap water for the first time have saved more than Rs 80 thousand every year.
Remarking that 10 years ago, nobody had anticipated such big changes in India to take place, Shri Modi said “India’s success inspired us to dream bigger and fulfil it”. He added that this had raised hope and thought that this century will be India’s century. Emphasizing that it was necessary to undertake many efforts to move in this direction, Shri Modi said the Government was working swiftly to do the best in every sector. He remarked that efforts are needed to make our processes such that India’s standard is referred to as ‘world class’ be it in the manufacturing of products or construction, education or entertainment. Shri Modi remarked that Hindustan Times also had a very big role in reiterating this approach in the minds of the people and their 100 years of experience will be very useful in the journey towards a developed India.
Concluding the speech, Shri Modi expressed confidence that India will maintain this pace of development and soon become the third largest economy in the world. He added that Hindustan Times will also witness the new century of rapidly changing India.
