Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the Aspirational Block Programme on the lines of a similar exercise aimed at developing backward districts, and asserted that India is focussing on the four pillars of infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusion to be a developed country.
Chairing the second national conference of state chief secretaries on its third and last day, Modi said: “In order to build a developed India, the country is focussing on four pillars of infrastructure, investment, innovation, and inclusion. Today, the entire world is reposing its faith in India, and we are being looked up to as a country that can bring stability to the global supply chain.”
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He said the country can take full advantage of this only if states take lead by maintaining focus on quality and making decisions with an “India-first” approach, according to a statement. “The country would be able to take full advantage of this new position in the world only if states take the lead by maintaining focus on quality and taking decisions with an India-first approach. States should focus on pro-development governance, ease of doing business, ease of living, and provision of robust infrastructure.”
The PM also called upon the chief secretaries to focus on ending “mindless compliances” and outdated laws and rules.
He also urged the Niti Aayog to foster healthy competition between the states and to encourage the creation of action plans from the observations made at the conference.
At a time when India is initiating unparalleled reforms, there is no scope for over-regulation and mindless restrictions, he tweeted. “We should move towards self-certification, deemed approvals and standardisation of forms,” he said.
The prime minister also spoke about the development of both physical and social infrastructure along with a focus on the enhancement of cybersecurity.
“With the eyes of the world being on India, combined with the rich talent pool of our youth, the coming years belong to our nation.” “Strengthening our MSME (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) sector is important for the country to become self-reliant and to boost economic growth,” Modi said, adding that it is equally important to popularise local products.
Modi also discussed the significance of 2023 being the International Year of Millets and steps to enhance the popularity of their products. “Over the last two days, we have been witnessing extensive discussions at the chief secretaries conference in Delhi. During my remarks today, emphasised on a wide range of subjects which can further improve the lives of people and strengthen India’s development trajectory,” he tweeted.
