NEW DELHI: Paraphrased: Shortly after the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted his commitment to transforming India into a 'Viksit-Bharat' by the year 2047.
“I don’t work for headlines but for deadlines,” he remarked while speaking at a conclave, adding that India will continue growing faster and faster despite global uncertainty.
“We don’t work for electoral gains, but for the people and their development. I have seen the poverty of the poor as well as the poverty of the rich," he asserted.
Exuding confidence of his government retaining power in the Lok Sabha polls, Modi said people will see decisive policies and decisions being made in the next five years.
He has been working on them, Modi said.
The next five years will be a guarantee of a stable, capable and strong India to the world while development will be taken to new heights, he said.
“But when works are done for family, results are now being seen”, he sarcastically said indirectly targeting some parties in Opposition at the conclave.
He said his government has maintained "zero-tolerance" to corruption and given a freehand to investigation agencies, and that is why some people are having a pain in their stomach, an apparent reference to opposition leaders who have accused the government of misusing the probe bodies to target its rivals.
While the Enforcement Directorate had seized only Rs 5,000 crore till 2014, it has attached assets worth over Rs 1 lakh crore and arrested those associated with cyber and narco crimes, and terrorism, he said.
Modi said some people are running a campaign to abuse him but their intentions and commitment are under a question mark.
The country is clearly telling them "so sorry", he said, in a play at a popular short parody programme of the news channel.
Modi highlighted at length numerous welfare schemes his government has brought over the years to help the deprived sections of society, be it street vendors or the rural poor.
These issues do not make media headlines but impact people, he said, as he dwelt at length the impact of schemes like Mudra and SVANidhi, which provide loans to the poor and street vendors, respectively, for their business at simple and easy terms without guarantees.
Modi said his dispensation has worked to boost 'ease of living' of people and underscored his governing philosophy of minimising the role of government in people's lives.
A common man should have the freedom to lead his life the way he wants, he said, noting that his government has done away with hundreds of laws and regulations.
Modi said that before his government came to power in 2014, people had to pay tax on income of Rs 2,00,000 while there is no tax now on income of Rs 7,00,000.
The prime minister said he could have distributed tax-payers' money to draw claps but this is not his way.
He believed that people's lives could be made easier by saving their money.
This is good in long-term and in the country's interests, he said, asserting that he wants to handover a prosperous India to the next generation.
People have saved over Rs 2.
5 lakh crore in direct tax as his government wants the common people to have more money in their pocket, he said, adding that the poor has saved over Rs 1 lakh crore due to the Ayushman health insurance scheme.
He said that the country now has over 1.25 lakh registered Startups in more than 600 districts. He said that about 8 crore beneficiaries of Mudra Yojna had stated their own entrepreneurship with the loans.
Speaking about women's role in handling drones, he said that when women are rarely seen riding bicycles, now women are working as drone pilots.
"This is my way to change the thoughts of villages through the drone driving. When they will fly drones, they will change the economy of agriculture”, he said.
Taking a jibe at earlier opposition governments, he said that the Northeast, which remained neglected under the previous government, has now become a priority to his government.
Modi said his ministers have visited the remote region nearly 700 times while he as prime minister has travelled there more than the trips of all the previous prime ministers put together.
Talking about the border villages, he said that 17 cabinet ministers have so far in the past one year visited these country’s first villages along the borders so far,” he claimed.
“It is our commitment for the people, Elections come and go but responsibility has to be discharged by us”, he said.
He said that Aayushman Arogya Mandir are transforming healthcare in the country. He targeted that the people have suffered with those who put the family first in politics.
“But for us, nation comes first”, he asserted, accusing that some in Opposition keep now abusing him for doing best for the nation.
He said that if he succeeds in achieving the target of 2047, he will remove the dependence of people on governance.
“If my target 2047 is achieved then I will remove the government from the lives of common people. I am trying my best to ensure that the common people of the country don’t have to stand in queues for any work. Everyone should go online and avail all the facilities from their homes," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)