People’s aspirations changing, a high jump is needed: PM Modi on Independence Day

"People's thinking has changed. Earlier, people were happy with merely a plan to set up a railway station. Now people ask- when will Vande Bharat Express come to my area," PM Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day address.

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | August 15, 2019 09:36 AM IST

2 min read

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Red Fort on Independence Day (Express photo/Neeraj Priyadarshi)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address, announced an investment of Rs 100 lakh crore in infrastructure development. “India does not want incremental progress. A high jump is needed, our thought process has to be expanded,” he said from the ramparts of Red Fort.

Adding that people’s aspirations are changing with time, Modi said, “People’s thinking has changed. Earlier, people were happy with merely a plan to set up a railway station. Now people ask- when will Vande Bharat Express come to my area. People do not want only good railway stations or bus stations, they ask when is a good airport coming.”

Currently only one Vande Bahrat Express is operational between Delhi and Varanasi, while another between Delhi and Katra is in the pipeline.

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Adding that India needs to remember the global best practices while developing quality infrastructure, Modi said, ” Ease of living is independent India’s dream. I want to take this plan forward in independent India. Ease of doing business is one aspect where we have leapfrogged several positions. But my main goal is providing ease of living.”

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This was Narendra Modi’s sixth-straight Independence Day address after BJP-led NDA stormed to power in 2014. In his speech today, PM Modi also listed the achievements of his newly formed government (scrapping of special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the passage of triple talaq Bill in Parliament) as well as the steps it has taken to better the country’s ailing economy. “What could not happen in 70 years happened in less than 70 days,” he said.

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