Ever since PM Narendra Modi took charge at the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014, Mr. Modi has been trying to change the atmosphere around India.
It is nice to see that India is making its place in the world. PM Modi had pushed through tough economic reforms like demonetisation (rapid removal from circulation of high denomination banknotes) and GST harmonization (the start of a unified national goods and services tax) for the welfare of country’s growth.
In the last three to four years, the vision of India has been changed and the world’s perception towards India is also changing. It’s because of the fact that India is attaining a meteoric rise and its progress is well documented.
Let’s take a look at the 10 biggest masterstrokes of PM Narendra Modi-le government.
#1. Jan-Dhan Yojana
PM Narendra Modi kick-started the world’s largest financial inclusion programme in his maiden Independence Day speech and thereby expanding possibilities to the formal banking system to the economically backward sections of the society.
As per 2018 report, the total number of beneficiaries banked stand at 31.31 crores, with a pretty good balance of over Rs 76,000 crore in their accounts.
#2. GST: One Nation-One Tax
Labelled as the biggest financial sector reform after the liberalisation of the economy in the year 1991, the Modi government has launched the Goods and Services Tax on July 1, 2017, at a midnight session of the Parliament.
The one nation, one tax has replaced existing multiple cascading taxes charged by the central and state governments.
#3. Ujjwala Scheme
The Ujjwala scheme provided free LPG connections to almost 3 crore poor families so far. Under this scheme, the government plans to offer cooking gas to poor households. The scheme aims to replace the cooking fuels used mostly in rural areas with clean liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
#4. Bullet Train project
In a major development with respect to Indian Railways and its transportation infrastructure, the foundation stone for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed railway project was laid on September 14 by PM Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
#5. BHIM App
To take digitalisation to a whole new level, PM Narendra Modi had launched BHIM App and it turned out to be a massive success. For the unversed, BHIM is a biometric payment system app using Aadhaar platform and based on Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to help e-payments directly through bank accounts itself.
It should be noted that the transaction volumes on the digital payment platform have hiked 36 per cent to over Rs 13,000 crore till December 2017.
#6. MUDRA Yojana
By bringing MUDRA scheme into effect, the Modi government provided financial assistance to young entrepreneurs across the country and out of the total loans sanctioned so far, more than 3 crore beneficiaries have been the first time entrepreneurs.
#7. UDAN
The UDAN scheme which was launched in October 2016 makes air travel more affordable, convenient and also accessible to the citizens of India.
Moreover, it gave a much-needed boost to regional connectivity by exhibiting 128 routes that linked regional areas to cities and also covered 52 un-served and 13 underserved airports.
#8. Clean India Mission
Clean India Mission is one of the successful missions. Yes, four years since its launch, around 79% of India has become free from open defecation, up from around 39% in 2014. Institutional support going along with mass participation has been indeed significant in making Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, PM Modi’s pet project, a masterstroke.
#9. Infra Push
In a sensational development for infrastructure, PM Modi disclosed the Sagarmala Project in a bid to develop India’s long coastline and inland ports including the Bharatmala Project to enhance road connectivity in India.
The overall projects come with a total outlay of Rs 4 lakh crore and more than Rs 5 lakh crore. Then the other critical infrastructural projects include the 9-km long Chenani-Nashri Tunnel in J&K and the Dhola-Sadia Bridge, India’s longest river bridge, in Assam.
#10. Solar Alliance
In an attempt to combat climate change, Narendra Modi brought together the International Solar Alliance to utilise maximum solar energy for developmental needs of countries in the tropics.
This concept was initially launched in 2015, in the midst of Paris Climate Summit, the international venture has held its first summit in the national capital, which saw the participation of around 23 heads of state.