There were mixed reactions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech made here at the Red Fort on Saturday. While the Opposition parties criticised Modi for offering nothing new, the chambers of commerce hoped that the new programmes announced by him will lay the foundations for the next growth trajectory.
The Congress and the Left parties said the PM remained silent on crucial issues such as corruption and national security where his statements were expected. Congress leaders said the PM just re-endorsed the programmes launched by the erstwhile UPA government. “What new thing has he stated. He has talked of two—three schemes, but I am sorry to say that those schemes were started by the Congress party during the UPA government,” said Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Azad’s deputy in the Upper House, Anand Sharma said the Prime Minister has different definitions of corruption by BJP leaders and by others. “I don’t know what the Prime Minister’s or BJP’s definition of corruption is. There is one definition which they had for their political opponents and there is one definition which he has for his own people,” he said.
Former defence minister AK Antony urged Modi to implement One Rank, One Pension at the earliest. “In the budget of February 2014, UPA government announced that it is accepting OROP and it will be implemented on April 1, 2014 onwards with retrospective effect. Our government announced OROP and we took all the decisions to implement it. It was a question of completing certain formalities for calculating individual pension. After 15 months, no less than the person like the Prime Minister saying we are accepting it in principle. It is going back. It is a total disappointment for the ex-servicemen community,” Antony said.
Talking to news channels, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said only rich has space in Modi’s ‘Team India.’ “Which Team India is he talking about, you have two India’s in the making. The Prime Minister’s Team India seems to be the only wealthy Team India,” he said. He added that the speech offered nothing new. “It was just a companion of slogans and their rhetoric, the speech was completely unrelated to the real day to day condition of the vast majority of our people,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
CII president Chandrajit Banerjee welcomed the direction of the speech. “The slogans of Startup India and Standup India are very welcome and will inspire an entrepreneurship culture in the country. CII pledges to disseminate and strengthen the startup spirit in India through its new center of excellence for entrepreneurship,” he said.
FICCI president Jyotsna Suri said creating a few million entrepreneurs across the country will not only create many more million jobs but also provide livelihood opportunities for the poor in remote corners of the country. “Strengthening merit based employment eco-system by doing away of interviews for low-end jobs is a step in the right direction, inculcating a sense of confidence and empowerment for all citizens”, said Suri.
The farmers’ organisations were not very enthused on the proposed change of name of the Agriculture Ministry, as mentioned in the PM’s speech. “The change in name has been done by various State Governments already so this is not new. I’m sure the Prime Minister has a vision since agricultural growth cannot happen if farmers’ lives don’t improve,” said Prabhakar Kelkar, General Secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh.
Left wing outfit All India Kisan Sabha said what farmers want is a change in policies. “The government policies are making agriculture unviable, pushing Farmers into indebtedness, pauperising them, leading to dispossession, distress migration and increased suicides. Rather than changing these policies merely changing a name board is making a mockery of the plight of Farmers,” said AIKS joint secretary Vijoo Krishnan.