PM Modi flags off Freedom March from Sabarmati Ashram and inaugurates curtain-raiser activities to celebrate India's 75th anniversary.
Change – it’s been in the making over the last 74 years.
Change – it has moved gear in the past 6 years, shaking India from the stupor of its past and pushing it ahead towards a journey of transformation.
And that change will come to fruition later this year – when the country marks its 75th independence day in a festive celebration of democracy that will last until the next Independence Day in 2022.
The build-up for that grand occasion starts on Friday, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off a Freedom March from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, and inaugurate curtain-raiser activities of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav’ (celebrations of India@75).
That will be part of the countdown that is being launched in the run-up to the big day – August 15.
“This year’s 75th Independence Day will celebrate the spirit of freedom struggle and reflect the feeling of sacrifice. In this, there should be a tribute to the martyrs of the country and a resolve to build an India of their dreams. It will have a glimpse of the pride of Sanatan India and the glow of modern India as well,” PM Modi said while speaking at the committee meeting to mark 75 years of India's Independence.
"We have to celebrate the festival of 75 years of independence while taking along 1.3 billion countrymen with us. Public participation is the basic spirit of this event," he said. On January 31, PM Modi in 2021's first Mann ki Baat had appealed to the countrymen to write about freedom fighters and stories of their struggle to mark the country's 75th Independence Day this year.
With India on the cusp of a major transformation, the country needs to achieve and sustain a high rate of GDP growth for the next three decades. According to the government’s ‘Strategy for New India @75’, prepared by Niti Ayog, India’s vision for the next decades is based on three foundations.
New India @75’, prepared by NITI Ayog, India’s vision for the next decades is based on three foundations.
First, development must become a mass movement, in which every Indian recognises his/her role and also experiences the tangible benefits accruing to her in the form of better ease of living.
The direct implication of ensuring rapid growth with inclusion is that policymaking will have to be rooted in Indian ground realities and emphasize the welfare of all in both design and implementation.
Second, development strategy should help achieve broad-based economic growth to ensure balanced development across all regions and states and across sectors. This implies embracing new technologies fostering innovation and upskilling.
“We will have to focus on the necessary modernisation of our agriculture and mainstreaming of regions such as the North East, hilly states and the 115 Aspirational Districts. The direct outcome of this will be improved regional and inter-personal equity and elimination of dualism that has so far characterised our economy. We will put in place an economy that is predominantly formal, rule-driven and facilitates investment and innovation,” the think-tank said in the vision document.
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Third, the strategy will bridge the gap between public and private sector performance – in line with PM Modi’s relentless focus on putting in place a “development state” in place of the “soft state” that the government had inherited. In this context, the government has focused on the efficient delivery of public services, rooting out corruption and black economy, formalizing the economy and expanding the tax base, improving the ease of doing business, nursing the stressed commercial banking sector back to a healthy state, and stopping leakages through direct benefit transfers and widespread use of the JAM trinity.
The events that begin on Friday at 10.30am at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad will therefore be more than a celebration – it marks the beginning of a new era of social and economic transformation for New India.