Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his I-Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Monday. Addressing the nation on the occasion of the 70th Independence Day, Modi said his government's focus was on adopting the strategy of 'Reform, Perform and Transform'.
Here are top 20 quotes from Prime Minister's nearly 100-minute speech:
* A strong country cannot be build without a strong society which is based on social justice. Tough and "sensitive" approach is required to tackle the age-old social evils whether it is castism or untouchability.
* Our social unity is most important; division in the name of caste, creed hurts the country. Need to rise above all these issues. 'Unity in Diversity' is the whole essence of Indian culture. There is no place for violence and atrocities here.
* I have tried to adopt the strategy of 'Reform, Perform and Transform'; tried to avoid populism.
* Under the previous government, inflation had crossed 10%. We have brought inflation rate below 6 pc; I will continue to work to ensure food plate of poor is not affected by inflation.
* Many innocents were killed in Peshawar terrorist attack (Pak), but there were tears in everyone's eyes in Parliament here. People of Balochistan, Gilgit and PoK have thanked me a lot in the past few days, I am grateful to them. This is the example of our humanitarian approach, but there are some countries who glorify terrorists.
* We have worked to achieve "One nation, one grid and one price".
* We all know about coal scam. However, we auctioned coal online, without any corruption charges levelled against us due to transparency.
* When new government is elected, many-a-times, good initiatives taken by the previous government are forgotten. But we did not let this happen, we have taken forward the good initiatives taken by the previous government.
* Our government is giving importance to 'last man delivery' by taking decisions decisively as our policies and intentions are clear.
* In my first speech I had asked how we can tackle the huge problem of sanitation in our country. In such little time, we have built 2 crore toilets, more than 70,000 villages are open defecation free.
* From Delhi it takes 3 hours to reach Nagla Fatela village in Hathras, it took 70 years for electricity to reach there. Electricity has reached 10,000 villages out of 18,000 unelectricified villages. The LED bulb that was priced at Rs 350 each, is now being sold at Rs 50 each.
* We have found 9,000 lower ranks in which there will not be any interviews, there will not be any need of references and middlemen. These appointments are being done on merit. Today the citizen is not happy with just the announcement of projects, the unveiling of plans. She / He wants to see the actual work being done on the ground.
* There was a time when the central government was surrounded by allegations but now the government is surrounded by expectations. We have connected 70 crore Indians to Aadhaar and social security schemes.
* We have worked to achieve "One nation, one grid and one price". GST is one such tax reform which will help us bring in financial stability. GST will give strength to the economy and all parties are to be thanked for it being passed. GST will give strength to our economy & all parties are to be thanked for its passage.
* We did not get an opportunity to die for the country but we have the opportunity to live for the country.
* It is easy to keep account of the work done by the government, but it is difficult to have in-depth knowledge of those initiatives. Today, more than 'Karya', I want to talk about 'Karya Sanskriti' of the government.
* Today our government is enlivened with expectations. Today, as I speak to you from the ramparts of the Red Fort, it is only natural I give you an account of what the government has been doing. And I can give you a long list of what we have done. But if I tell you everything, I will have to speak from here for a week.
* March from self-governance to good-governance is a resolve of entire nation, it will need sacrifices. The onus is on 125 cr people of India to convert this 'Swaraj' into 'Surajya'. From Parliament to panchayats, gram pradhans to the prime minister, everyone has to fulfill their responsibility. Only then will the dream of surajya come true.
* India's age is not 70 years, but the journey post colonial rule for a better India is 70 year old.
* India faces a lot of challenges,today but I believe that 125 cr people of India have the ability to face and overcome these challenges.
Photograph: Press Information Bureau
