As a 17-year-old from a Tier 1 city, I firmly believe that India under Modi is set to become a Vishwa guru. I encourage you to read this piece even if you think otherwise. Many across the world believe that Modi’s India is on the right path. Bharat is heading towards its golden era under PM Modi’s leadership. Leaders around the world today speak and praise the change and impact Modi’s India has had on the world.
The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “Prime Minister Modi is the boss!” India is the world’s fastest-developing country and a country with which everyone wants to have good relationships.
Jeff Bezos said, “I predict the 21st century will be the Indian century. This country has dynamism and energy, and everywhere I go here we see there is an improvement in growth. This country has something special.”
Not just world leaders, but many, even those my age, believe that India is heading towards a more literate and progressive nation as opposed to India 15-20 years ago. A few areas in which India has seen massive progress are discussed below.
Today, the youth are provided with a high infrastructure of education, with more IIMs, IITs, and AIIMs being introduced. In 70 years of independence, only 7 AIIMS were constructed, but during Modi Ji’s tenure, the number of AIIMS in the country has increased to 23. In 70 years, 387 medical colleges were built in the country, but in the last 10 years, the same has increased to 706. Earlier, there were 51,000 MBBS seats, but under the present rule, the number of seats has increased to 1,07,000. There is development in all fields of education, not only the medical field, under the Modi government. There were 7 new IITs and 7 new IIMs inaugurated in the past 10 years, alongside the inauguration of the modern Nalanda University (NU), preserving our ancient style of education in modern times. The unemployment rate in India has also reduced drastically over the past few years. India today consists of young people with high aspirations of startups and businesses, providing employment instead of seeking it. This is substantiated by the fact that India has emerged as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, boasting over 1.25 lakh startups and 110 unicorns. These startups contribute to the employment of more than 12 lakh people while noting that India has registered over 12,000 patents.
Aside from education, the country has also developed a lot infrastructurally. In the past 5 years, 2 crore houses for the poor and middle class have been built, providing shelter and business for small and medium businesses. A 30% subsidy has been provided for rooftop solar to everyone, and free rooftop solar to the poor has been provided, helping India become the number one solar panel manufacturing nation. Furthermore, there is the internet in remote areas, which has helped the country take a huge leap in technology and digitalization. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed ₹80.8 lakh crore ($964 billion) in April-July 2024, marking a 37% year-on-year increase. UPI has become the world’s leading alternative payment method, surpassing China’s Alipay, USA’s PayPal, and Brazil’s PIX in transaction volume. India today is filled with digitally aware and literate people working for the betterment and growth of the country. The country has seen great progress in the field of business and startups.
In terms of transport, India has worked extensively and succeeded in building connectivity between rural and urban areas, connecting different cities through the means of roads and railways. The railway sector has seen massive growth in the past decade. PM Modi has also announced schemes such as the Amrit Bharat Scheme, under which 1321 railway stations will be redeveloped with a huge budget of 80,000 crore rupees. There have been huge investments in the railway sector, and even private players are approaching the government to tie up for big-size railway projects. And with the introduction of new faster trains, namely ‘Vande Barat Express’, India is closer than ever before to having the best connectivity in the world. This is helping small and medium businesses expand their work to different cities and states across the country. There has been development of 95000 km of national highways, 25871 km of railway lines, and 74 airports in the last 10 years, showcasing the commitment of the Modi government to speed up infrastructural development from the ground to the sky.
On the economic front, India has also worked on strengthening its taxation system in the past 10 years through the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, which not only eliminated the previous many indirect taxes but also made it easier for both the consumer and the seller. Various fiscal policies and taxation policies have been introduced, which have only had a positive impact on the country’s economy. Since the introduction of GST, the country’s administrative process has eased with an increase in the economy as well.
The development of India did not only occur in materialistic and economic aspects but also social and cultural aspects with a stronger emphasis on gender equality. Women are now part of financial inclusion schemes and are given money to have their own household businesses; the old people of the country have both financial and health safety schemes for their retirement lives; the girls of the country are safer than ever before, with schemes such as the Beti Padhao Beti Bachao scheme, which has helped lakhs of girls in the country get access to education and a good life. The scheme has been able to generate significant mass mobilization to eliminate gender discrimination and has been able to develop many good practices and community-level initiatives. The Ministry of Home Affairs has taken several steps to enhance the safety and security of women in the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. Multiple women’s safety initiatives are being fast-tracked. Various IT initiatives, including ITSSO, NDSO, Cri-MAC, and New Citizen Services, have been taken for timely and effective investigation. Around 260 million people have come out of poverty, and this number continues to increase every day. The extreme poverty rate is being eliminated, and many financial schemes for the poor, backward class, and women have been introduced in the last 10 years. I see Bharat ahead under MODI, where the poverty rate is very low and Bharat has the best standard of living in the world.
On a global stage, India is heading towards becoming a global superpower with the help of various international organisations, including the G-20 Summit, where the New Delhi Declaration was passed without any opposition. This helped India display to the world her strength and strong leadership by passing the New Delhi Declaration, which was considered a historic moment for not only India but the G-20 Summit altogether as it showcased the commitment of the G-20 members to address global challenges of the 21st century. The foreign relations with other countries have improved greatly under the rule of the present government. India is also going to become the third largest economy in the next 5 years, as envisioned by Modi, and we can see the growing stock exchange touch new heights every day with the middle class becoming richer.
Aside from all the above-addressed aspects, under the rule of PM Modi, issues that have lasted since independence have been addressed with new strategic approaches in place. For instance, let’s take the example of Kashmir, the place known as the heaven on Earth. It was under tremendous problems of underdevelopment and security threats for a long time, but since the past 10 years we have seen the abrogation of Article 370, financial investments, and modernisation ensuring the development of Kashmir and its safety, and I believe it is one of the biggest achievements of PM Modi. India has also developed in terms of internal security and counter-terrorism, with a heavy investment in the defense industry and counter-attacks taking place against terrorist activities; the Balakot airstrike being a classic example. Such instances reaffirm the country’s commitment to national security and counter-terrorism. Another such instance is that of the Ram Mandir dispute and the verdict from the same for which the country had been patiently waiting for the past 500 years.
Adding on, India’s ability to tackle tough situations has increased drastically. During COVID, there was a lot of fear among the people, and India, with its 1.4 billion people, was under great tension. However, with world-class health facilities and a vaccine that could be accessed even by the poor and rural people of the country, India truly was able to tackle the battle of COVID-19. The people of the country had access to the vaccine before many in the world, which is truly commendable. India not only helped itself in the pandemic but also extended its help to other countries. At our peak, we administered 25 million doses in a day, a world record. To put it in perspective, this is equivalent to the entire population of Australia, two-thirds the population of Canada, and five times the entire population of New Zealand. We had averaged close to seven million doses every day. Not only was India producing enough vaccines for domestic use, but it was also able to export vaccines around the world. India had exported nearly 66 million doses of vaccines under the Vaccine Maitri Programme to 95 countries. Over 100 million doses had been sent to neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Iran.
Today, India eyes becoming a Vishwa guru and a country that is not dependent on anyone, instead one that helps others, unlike the superpowers of yesteryear promoting the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the whole world is a family).
To sum it up, India under Modi in his third term will have some changes that will shape the future of the country for the next 5 decades, like the Uniform Civil Code, tackling problems in the economy, and a hugely uncomfortable relationship in its immediate neighbourhood. Although, I firmly believe that Bharat will be a spiritual, developed, rich country in the next few years and a global leader that will help unite the world. As a Grade 12 student, I am excited about the future of my country under the guidance of PM Modi Ji.