-The one thing that will take the country forward is women-led development, he said
-Besides, the prime minister in his speech also stressed upon the need for harnessing the demographic dividend and for creating a future ready skilled workforce
-Data released showed the retail inflation galloped to 7.44 per cent in July from 4.87 per cent in the preceding month on the back of skyrocketing prices of vegetables
-Prime minister said that the government will provide interest relief on loans from banks that will help them save lakhs of rupees
New Delhi, NFAPost: To increase the use of drones in agriculture and boost the rural economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the government would soon launch a scheme through which women in around 15,000 self-help groups (SHGs) would be trained to fly and repair drones.
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of 77th Independence Day celebrations, Modi said India was focusing on women-led development, and highlighted the achievements made in various fields, including aviation.
The one thing that will take the country forward is women-led development, he said. Referring to the works being done by women SHGs in rural India, the prime minister said his dream was to see 20 million women become “lakhpati didis”, and the government was considering measures to realise the goal.
He said the Centre, along with states, had been consistently pushing for the use of modern technologies in agriculture, including drones for the spraying of chemicals and fertilisers.
Recently, fertiliser major Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (Iffco) announced it would purchase 2,500 drones in one go, which it would use for spraying nano urea and nano diammonium phosphate (DAP), along with other chemicals, through a dedicated network of over 5,000 rural entrepreneurs.
Iffco had said the drones would be given free of cost to the rural entrepreneurs.
Thereafter, other major fertiliser and pesticides companies have placed orders for purchasing drones for spraying their products.
“Providing drones to 15,000 women SHGs would revolutionise India’s agriculture landscape and would empower women, which is a key towards the growth of our nation. It is likely to speed up the adoption of drone technology in the field of agriculture and will lead to substantial employment generation and agri-business opportunities in rural areas,” said Anoop Upadhyay, co-founder and director, IoTechWorld Avigation, one of India’s leading agri-drone manufacturers.
The Centre, a few years back, decided to fund farmer producer organisations (FPOs), Krishi Vigyan Kendra, custom hiring centres, and even individuals for the purchase of drones.
According to guidelines issued by the sub-mission on agriculture mechanisation, the Centre provided 100 per cent funding support up to Rs 10 lakh for the purchase of drones by agriculture training institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and 75 per cent funding for drones purchased by the FPOs.
That apart, the Centre provided financial support of up to Rs 6,000 per hectare to agencies that buy or hire drones for demonstration purposes.
In addition to research institutes and FPOs, the Centre provided 40 per cent financial support to the extent of Rs 4 lakh to existing custom hiring centres set up by cooperatives and FPOs to purchase drones, while 50 per cent support or up to Rs 5 lakh is being funded for drone purchase to agriculture graduates establishing custom hiring centres.
Govt to launch Vishwakarma Yojana for skilled traditional craftsmen
The Centre is soon launching a special scheme for traditional craftsmen and workers, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech.
The scheme, which is expected to mainly benefit other backward classes (OBCs), will be launched during Vishwakarma Jayanti on September 17. It will have an initial outlay of Rs 13,000-15,000 crore.
“A scheme will be launched on the occasion of Vishwakarma Jayanti. It will benefit individuals skilled in traditional craftsmanship, particularly from the OBC community. Weavers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, laundry workers, barbers, and their families will be empowered through the Vishwakarma Yojana,” the Prime Minister said from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
In addition, the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of capitalising on the demographic dividend and preparing a skilled workforce that is ready to serve the nation and the world.
“Today, while other countries are grappling with an aging population, India is energetically advancing towards a youthful demographic. It is a time of immense pride as India has the highest population under 30. The world requires youthful energy and skills. We have established a separate ministry for skill development. It aims to meet not only India’s needs but the global demand as well,” he stated.
The Prime Minister said that his administration has fostered self-employment, businesses, and ventures for the youth through Mudra Yojana, with a budget exceeding Rs 20 trillion.
Moreover, during the pandemic, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were fortified with nearly Rs 3.5 trillion. This protected them from collapse, enabling them to create more jobs.
“Approximately 80 million individuals have commenced new businesses. It’s not merely 80 million people who initiated their ventures; each entrepreneur has offered employment to one or two others. Through Mudra Yojana, the ability to provide work to 80-100 million new individuals has been realised,” he added.
Earlier this year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman (PM-VIKAS) package for artisans and craftsmen. This package will enhance the quality, scale, and accessibility of their products, integrating them with the MSME value chain.
Govt to take more measures to lower the burden of inflation: PM Modi
A day after retail inflation hit a 15-month high, breaching the central bank’s upper tolerance limit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to take more measures to minimise the burden of inflation on countrymen.
“India has tried its best to control inflation. Compared to the previous period, we have also had some success, but we cannot be complacent with that. We should not be complacent that our things are better than that of the world. I have to take more steps in this direction to minimise the burden of inflation on my countrymen. And we will continue to take that step. My efforts will continue,” Modi said from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of the 77th Independence Day.
Data released showed the retail inflation galloped to 7.44 per cent in July from 4.87 per cent in the preceding month on the back of skyrocketing prices of vegetables, pulses, cereals, and spices.
Modi attributed the elevated inflation, in part, to high costs of imports. “The world has not yet come out of the adverse impacts of Covid-19; the war has again created an additional problem. Today the world is facing the crisis of inflation. Inflation has gripped the economy of the whole world. We also import some goods from around the world. Unfortunately, we have to import at inflated prices. So, this whole world has been gripped by inflation.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das, in his monetary policy statement last week, said the role of continued and timely supply-side interventions assumed criticality in limiting the severity and duration of such shocks. “The frequent incidences of recurring food price shocks pose a risk to anchoring of inflation expectations, which has been underway since September 2022,” he had cautioned.
Modi said a new global order and geopolitical equation was rapidly emerging in the post-pandemic world, and India would play a crucial role in it. “All interpretations of the geopolitical equation are changing, definitions are changing. My dear family members, you will take pride that the world is seeing the capabilities of my 1.4 billion fellow citizens in shaping the world. You are standing at a turning point,” he said.
The prime minister said India’s prosperity and heritage were turning into opportunities for the world today. “With India’s participation in the global economy and the global supply chain and with the place that India has earned for itself, I can say with full confidence that the current scenario here today has brought a guarantee of stability in the world. There are no ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’ now in our minds, or in the minds of my 1.4 billion family members, or in the mind of the world. There is complete trust,” he said.
To fulfil the dream of making India a developed country by 2047, Modi said hard work as well as building a national character was crucial. “The countries that have progressed, the ones that have overcome challenges, all of them have had a crucial catalyst –- their national character. We must further strengthen our national character and move forward,” he said.
“It is our collective responsibility that our nation, our national character, should be vigorous, dynamic, hardworking, valiant, and outstanding. For the coming 25 years, we should follow only one mantra, which should be the pinnacle of our national character. We should move forward with the message of living the unity of India and refrain from any language or step which will cause any harm to the unity of India,” he said.
Modi said the country needs to fight against corruption, nepotism, and appeasement to become a developed economy. “If something has destroyed social justice, then this appeasement thinking, appeasement politics. Government schemes for appeasement have indeed killed social justice. And that’s why we realise appeasement and corruption are the biggest enemies of development,” he said.
Poor, middle-class to get interest relief on loan to build houses: PM Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said that the government would come out with a new scheme to help the poor and middle-class families living in cities to build their own houses.
“We are coming up with a new scheme in the coming years that will benefit those families that live in cities but are living in rented houses, or slums, or chawls and unauthorised colonies,” Modi said while addressing the nation on the 77th Independence Day.
The prime minister said that the government will provide interest relief on loans from banks that will help them save lakhs of rupees. “Earlier, Rs 90,000 crore were spent to build the houses of the poor; today it has increased four times, and more than Rs 4 trillion are being spent to build the houses of the poor.”
The government allocated Rs 79,000 crore in the union budget for FY24 for the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY). Of this fund, around Rs 54,000 crore is meant for PMAY-Gramin, and about Rs 25,000 crore is dedicated to PMAY-Urban to meet expenditure under sanctioned projects.
The Cabinet has extended the continuation of PMAY-U up to December 31, 2024, with all the verticals except the Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) vertical.
Currently, there are four verticals under PMAY-U which include the credit-linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) for economically weaker section, lower income group, and middle-income group; affordable housing in partnership (AHP); in-situ slum redevelopment (ISSR); and beneficiary-led individual house construction (BLC).
The continuation of the scheme was based on the request of states/Union Territories (UTs) which will help in completion of already sanctioned houses under BLC, AHP, and ISSR verticals.
According to provisional data as of August 14, out of the 11.9 million sanctioned houses around 7.62 million houses have been completed under PMAY-U. The central government has committed Rs 2 trillion for the scheme, of which Rs 1.49 trillion has been released.
The Prime Minister mentioned that the schemes of the government have enabled 135 million people to break free from the chains of poverty in the first five years of his term. “The various schemes from housing schemes, providing Rs 50,000 crore to street vendors through the PM SVANidhi scheme, and many more have aided these 13.5 crore people to rise above the hardships of poverty,” he added.
Promising to make India one among the top three economies in his next term as the Prime Minister, Modi said when poverty reduces in the country, the power of the middle-class section of the country increases manifold. “Today the 135 million people who have come out of poverty have in a way become the middle class. When the purchasing power of the poor increases, the power of the middle class to carry out business grows too. When the purchasing power of the villages increases, the financial system of the town and city runs at a faster pace. And our economic cycle is interconnected. We want to move ahead by strengthening it,” he added.
Agencies
