NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday made a marked break from the past in his maiden Independence Day speech with many firsts — notably by scrapping the Nehruvian vestige, the Planning Commission, and by ending his 65-minute extempore speech with the slogan of "vande mataram".
Unlike in the past when PMs announced government schemes from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi exhorted the countrymen to rise to their full potential, realize their responsibilities and shape their own destinies. To this direction, he pushed people towards cleanliness, sought protection of women by urging parents to ensure their boys are raised right, told MPs to create a model village with their MPLAD funds, nudged industry to move towards "zero defect" manufacturing, and asked bureaucrats to stop fighting among themselves and get on with their common task of governance.
Instead of the traditional "mai-baap sarkar" that provided goods and services to a passive populace, Modi sought to involve the people in a national "can-do" reconstruction project. Some of the things that he said sounded repetitive — like sanitation and the India manufacturing brand - but that was possibly to emphasise their importance in his scheme of development.
READ ALSO: 10 top quotes of PM Modi's maiden Independence Day speech
On India's fractious politics of caste and religion, the Prime Minister came up with another first — a 10-year moratorium on violence triggered by these divisive issues. "Let's resolve for once in our hearts, let's put a moratorium on all such activities for 10 years, we shall march ahead to a society which will be free from all such tensions," he said. It's an appeal that is likely to be heeded if Modi himself takes the lead by asking the saffron hot-heads to pipe down.
Modi made a pitch for a sub-continental project to eradicate poverty, saying how that was once issue that dragged India and its neighbours down. While his emphasis on neighbours isn't new, what was new is that he avoided mentioning Pakistan in any adversarial context. Also, on the eve of the secretary-level bilateral talks, this could make the dialogue smoother.
Unlike in the past when PMs announced government schemes from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi exhorted the countrymen to rise to their full potential, realize their responsibilities and shape their own destinies. To this direction, he pushed people towards cleanliness, sought protection of women by urging parents to ensure their boys are raised right, told MPs to create a model village with their MPLAD funds, nudged industry to move towards "zero defect" manufacturing, and asked bureaucrats to stop fighting among themselves and get on with their common task of governance.
Instead of the traditional "mai-baap sarkar" that provided goods and services to a passive populace, Modi sought to involve the people in a national "can-do" reconstruction project. Some of the things that he said sounded repetitive — like sanitation and the India manufacturing brand - but that was possibly to emphasise their importance in his scheme of development.
READ ALSO: 10 top quotes of PM Modi's maiden Independence Day speech
On India's fractious politics of caste and religion, the Prime Minister came up with another first — a 10-year moratorium on violence triggered by these divisive issues. "Let's resolve for once in our hearts, let's put a moratorium on all such activities for 10 years, we shall march ahead to a society which will be free from all such tensions," he said. It's an appeal that is likely to be heeded if Modi himself takes the lead by asking the saffron hot-heads to pipe down.
Modi made a pitch for a sub-continental project to eradicate poverty, saying how that was once issue that dragged India and its neighbours down. While his emphasis on neighbours isn't new, what was new is that he avoided mentioning Pakistan in any adversarial context. Also, on the eve of the secretary-level bilateral talks, this could make the dialogue smoother.
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