While introducing Shri Modi, Mr. Hiranandani described him as ‘An Idea whose time has come, a movement who has changed the face of Gujarat ‘and as someone ‘who has shown that the development of this country can be taken to a new level.’ President of All India Business Council, Mr. Mathura Das Mehta, also praised Shri Modi’s developmental work in Gujarat.
Below are quotes from Shri Modi’s speech:
Politics as usual goes on but for the first time I can see a genuine anger among the people
Politics as usual goes on but for the first time I can see a genuine anger among the people. Wherever they can, on twitter, on Jantar Mantar they are expressing it.This is not to get anything. These are not 'Humari Mange Poori Karo' movements. People are unable to see what is happening in country. Can we keep our nation in such a bad condition?
I speak on the basis of my experience in Gujarat, it is possible to change things!
Despite this, if a state & their people can leave despair, have faith in themselves & bring change, if 6 cr Gujaratis can do so, then 125 crore Indians can.
Gujarat does not have iron ore but we are well known in the steel industry. We could have also got unhappy and put our hands up.
We have to increase purchasing power of people in rural areas.
A nation that has Ganga, Yamuna, Krishna, Godavari, waters of Sindhu, why is it growing only at 2%, 3%? If there is no agriculture growth how will rural economy grow? We have to increase purchasing power of people in rural areas. Therefore, our model is based on three pillars- 1/3 agriculture, 1/3 manufacturing and 1/3 services sectorWhen Gujarat and Maharashtra were separated, get the newspapers...people asked what will happen to Gujarat? What do they have?
There was a time we were known as a trader state. Today that character has changed, we are now manufacturing state.
Earlier we were known as water scarce state, but for 10 years we had record agriculture growth. If there was no water how did it happen?
Today when even some people in our country don’t have health cards, we were first state to undertake initiative of soil health cards.
We took up a movement of micro irrigation- and adopted the mantra ‘per drop more crop.’ In 40 years only 1200 hectares of land was under drip irrigation. In the last decade the number has increased to 9 lakh hectares.
Did anyone imagine Kutch would export mangoes? Banaskanta made a name in pomegranate. Potato production record was broken there
Agro infrastructure very important, at the same time, we need agro technology. We are working on this. Many of our farmers spend money to go to Israel agro fair. We decided in 2014 we will do global level agro-tech fair.
We want to go ahead with integrated approach towards development
When I took over as CM, people said do anything but at least in the evening please give us power while we have dinner. Today Gujarat is energy surplus. We do not have coal mines yet we are energy surplus.
An agreement has been made between Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh regarding Sardar Sarovar Dam. MP gets maximum electricity; Maharashtra gets the second largest quantity and Gujarat the least. However, installation of gates is remaining. Gates are built and ready. But the Centre is not allowing us to put them. I have met PM many times- I said let us put the gate but to no avail.
If these gates are installed, we can give double the power to Maharashtra. Maharashtra is bearing losses worth 400 Cr because Centre is not taking decision.
I was told a World Bank Report has come out, Mumbai is 10th but Ahmedabad is 5th most favourable place to do business.
We developed agriculture on three pillars, regular farming, animal husbandry and forest farming. Additionally we have organized medical camps for cattle, because of this 121 cattle related diseases have been abolished. What can be bigger example of inclusive growth than this! Things can be done!
We have also made efforts at developing the tourism sector. It was said, Gujaratis are the best tourists but Gujarat was never a tourist destination. But we made efforts and today Gujarat's tourism growth is double of that of India's tourist growth. We made this Rann the Toran of India. Thousands are coming to see it.
Another thing we are working on is Skill Development. Recently because of our efforts received the PM’s award for excellence.
Administrative stability is a reason for success.
Another point is no discrimination. States can succeed only if policy driven. It empowers people to take decisions. When there are grey areas, there is a scope for corruption.
The committee suggested there should be coordination between departments. We ensured openness in Governance by starting Chintan Shibir.
We did one more thing. We put all policies online and in 30 days, we asked people to look at it and give suggestions. This way interested groups put their points.
Of all the suggestions made by the Committee on Good Governance, out of the 5 we have already implemented 4.
Another thing we did was, we put ownership in bureaucracy. Now the bureaucracy is empowered because of this.
An officer can select a task he or she likes. It need not be from the department he or she is not in.
India has Demographic and Democratic Dividends.
To compete with China, we need to focus on 3 things- skill, scale and speed...these three things important.
We need to showcase our strengths to the world. I requested the PM to start a Mumbai-Ahmedabad Metro. Additionally, we are building a Statue of Unity. This is to commemorate Sardar Patel, who united India. This statue will be taller than the Statue of Liberty. Its height will be double the height of the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Unity will stand at 182 meters.
There should be no compromise on skill and work must be on a large scale.
One needs the courage to take decisions. I don't know what all happened on cleaning the Ganga. We took effort in Sabarmati. One must go see the river now.There should be no compromise on skill and work must be on a large scale. We are planning to build Asia’s largest Solar Park. Some leaders often complain that they don’t have some of our advantages, but they do have the sun. They shouldn’t complain.
A government should be driven by institutions and not individuals
If Kutch can have agriculture revolution why cannot our nation? If without iron ore we can lead steel industry why cannot the nation?
Constitutional institutions are being degraded . A government should be driven by institutions and not individuals. We have succeeded because we have institutionalized all our ideas. If ideas are institutionalized then weaknesses can also be identified and overcome.
Shri Modi was asked about the importance of the Federal structure. Shri Modi reiterated that the structure was sacrosanct and should not be toyed with. He said, “Federal system is our biggest strength there should be no harm on it. Its sanctity is our prime responsibility.”
Prominent businesspersons from Mumbai were present during the meet. The event saw a record turnout underlining Shri Modi’s tremendous popularity in Mumbai.
