“People Ask Me Why Do You Still Work Like This…”: PM At NDTV World Summit

Addressing the NDTV World Summit this morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there is no scope for rest as his government works to make India’s dreams come true and fulfill its pledge.

“I meet many people who tell me, ‘India is now the fifth largest economy in the world, so many milestones have been achieved, reforms implemented, then why are you working so hard?’ In the last 10 years, 12 crore toilets have been built, and 16 crore homes have gas connections… is this enough? My answer is no. This is not enough. Today India is among the youngest countries in the world. This youth potential can take us to the skies,” the Prime Minister said. 

“The dreams we have seen, the pledge we have made, there is no rest, no relaxation,” he added.

The Prime Minister said India is now moving ahead with a ‘look forward’ approach. “There’s a tradition that every government compares its work with that of the previous government. We used to walk this path too, but from now on we can’t compare the past and the present and be happy with it. The metric of success from now on would be ‘What we want to achieve’. India now has a forward-looking approach. The vision for a developed India by 2047 is a part of this mindset,” he said.

At the beginning of his address, the Prime Minister said the developments in the last five years have been a cause for global concern. These include the Covid pandemic that resulted in the disruption of economies, price rise and unemployment, followed by wars in Ukraine and West Asia. Amid this turmoil, India has emerged as a beacon of hope, the Prime Minister said. “In India, we are discussing the India Century. India is the ray of hope amid the global crisis. There are challenges in front of India but we feel a sense of positivity here,” he added. 

India, he said, showed the world that digital innovation and democratic values can co-exist. The Prime Minister said India did not have the first-mover advantage during the Internet era. “In the countries that had this advantage, private companies led the digital push. A revolution came, but its benefit was limited. India gave a new model to the world. India democratised technology and showed the world the way to digital public infrastructure,” the Prime Minister said.

In India, he said, the government creates a platform and it undergoes several rounds of innovations. “Jandhan, Aadhaar and mobile connectivity have become a seamless system of fast and leakage-free service delivery. “Look at UPI, it has led to an expansion of fintech in India. More than 500 million digital transactions are happening through UPI daily. And this is not driven by big corporates, but by small shopowners and street vendors.”