Fundamentals of economy strong, Kashmir would also see fruits of developments: Shah

Gandhinagar: Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah today said that the fundamental of the economy were strong and Kahsmir would also see the fruit of development after abrogation of article 370 and 35 A.
He also said that PM Narendra Modi did not take decision to please people but for the good of the nation.

Addressing the 7th Convocation of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) today at Gandhinagar as Chief Guest. He also told the students that life is full of possibilities, and only those with courage could make most of those opportunities. He urged the graduating students to never aim for less and always be ambitious in their goals, and do the best they could in the new chapter of their lives.

He also explained the concept of integral humanism of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay and said that he was a great thinker who saw the problems of today’s world more than six decades ago and found solutions for the same. He said that the coming age was that of global warming and climate change, and those issues would become increasingly important. He noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had provided leadership at global level to tackle the issue of climate change.

He urged PDPU to undertake research and development in recycling of single use plastic and asked the institute to innovate in the field of eco-friendly plastic. He remarked that more than 5,000 graduates passed out of the institute in the last twelve years were a great asset to the nation.

He said that in 2014, people put their faith in the leadership of Modi and brought a decisive government with full majority in power. The result of this faith has been seen in the last five years as the nation has been transformed in many ways.

Today India has strong macroeconomic fundamentals, is the fastest growing economy and has reduced fiscal deficit from 5% of GDP to 3.3% of GDP. He said that from 142 in 2014, India had achieved a World Bank Ease of Doing Business Rank of 77 in 2019. He spoke of India’s improved World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index of 71 to 58. He noted Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s goal of making India one of the world’s three largest economies by 2022, and that of making India a 5 trillion dollar economy. He urged the graduates to take this era of transformations forward. He said that decisions like GST have proven that Modi takes decisions not to please people but to improve their lives and develop the nation.

He noted that while there were only 3000 startups from independence to 2014, today there are more than 20,000 startups, providing our youth opportunities to be globally competitive. He spoke of the surgical strikes and the Balakot airstrikes and said that the strong, bold leadership of Modi has ensured that no adversary would think of harming India. He said the challenges of Articles 370 and 35A were solved by the iron will and resolute leadership of Modi. Shah expressed confidence that under the leadership of Modi, Kashmir and Kashmiris would prosper and be able to avail hitherto inaccessible opportunities.

Calling for the development of oil and gas and energy sectors, Shah said that the government had taken several initiatives to develop the sectors, such as the new Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), but still more needs to be done. While India comprised of 18% of the world’s population, its energy consumption is only 5.4% of the global energy consumption, which proved that the per capita energy consumption in India is quite low. He said that petroleum and energy sectors would play a vital role in making India a 5 trillion dollar economy.

He also urged the students to rise above the narrow confines of self and family, and work for the nation, and said that this would present them with endless possibilities for growth. He said that the coming year is the 150th Birth Year Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, and it would bring new energy, new inspiration and new resolutions for the nation. He asked the graduating students to study the lives and deeds of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay and Mahatma Gandhi to understand India.

DeshGujarat