Bold decision-makers should run India:Narendra Modi at FICCI


Ahmedabad, 15 January 2014

Following are quick highlights of Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s FICCI address today afternoon in Gandhinagar.

-Leadership is extremely important. People should know whom to trust, and take bold decisions.

-The consequences of bad economic policies are evident.

-You can’t run the country if you’re running away from responsibility. It has become a fashion to run away.

-Someone has to take responsibility. The reason for disappointment is that nobody accepts responsibility in this country. People asked me why did you not run away from the Patna rally blasts. I told them I am not one to run away. Democracy and demography is the most important advantage that we have. Our judiciary system, democracy is attractive to the rest of the world. For development in India, we have to start accumulating man power now itself.

-The Prime Minister is very fond of inclusive growth, but if we do not do capacity building among the poor through education, how can we make them skilled?
-India has become a country of gross under achievers. We need strong decision makers to run the nation.

-Skilled manpower is key to the development of our nation in the coming years. We need to change courses keeping in mind the changing trends in technology.

-There is a question mark over every policy of the UPA government. The government should have made a determined bid for development. There is no dearth of opportunities for industry in India. The UPA mismanaged the Indian economy for ten years.

-Restoring faith and trust in the industrial sector is the need of the hour, as only then could India come out of its present “gloomy environment”.

-Railway needs quality manpower. Why cannot we think of dedicated railway universities? Why cannot we think of innovation in electronics sector?

-Value addition becomes important for natural resources. There is a need for an integrated approach to development. Unless that comes, we will not progress.

-Socialist slogans are good but is that helping anyone?

-Trust, faith changes the situation in a nation. It builds a positive environment. We need to build trust across the country.
-Agriculture and service sectors are the pillars of our economy. Our focus should be to increase productivity in the nation.

-Had the UPA regime planned its economic strategies and policies well, the nation could have reached greater heights. If we would have planned well, we would have reached great heights. The UPA has mismanaged the economy for the last ten years. There is no dearth of opportunity for the industry in our nation. We must create an atmosphere of hope in the nation and explore development opportunity for the next decade.

-Two sectors are most important-agriculture and the services sector. The amount of land is not increasing, but actually decreasing with the population increasing. Value addition is the best combination in service and agriculture sector. Need to focus on improving productivity in agriculture and value additions to improve rural economy.

-If we keep on exporting minerals, the country will not generate employment or development. With every resource, a holistic approach is very necessary.When we talk about growth, infrastructure comes in and that is dependent on the energy sector. Industries are shut because of shortage of fuel.

Official release

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today called for pulling India out of the present economic crisis and particularly the Current Account Deficit

(CAD) to frame policy, after consultation taking the captains of industry and business into confidence, in the interest of the nation.

Inaugurating the national executive meeting of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) at Mahatma Mandir here, Mr. Modi said that India has lost many an opportunity during the last decade in absence of leadership and direction. There is need to regain people’s confidence in leadership in every sector during the coming decade.

“If we decide,” he said, “we can change the pitiable condition of Indian economy. We have to take up the responsibility and show commitment.”

Mr. Modi stressed on the need for the urgency of preparing plan for human resource development, keeping possibilities of India’s potential in view. Citing the efforts of Mahatma Gandhi, he said, we have to augment our capacity take the fruits of development to the last person in the last mile.

Welcoming nearly 100 representatives of FICCI assembled here from all over the country, he said that there was no attempt, no talks about frame policies and strategies, optimum utilization of natural resources during the second half of the 20th of hope at the turn of the 21st the biggest bane for a large country like India.

Mr. Modi exuded confidence that Gujarat model has the capacity to take the country out of gloom and bring about the change. India has to take bold decisions, change the mindset and system and leadership. There is need to empower common man, strengthen the rural sector, to increase productivity and value-addition in the manufacturing and service sectors, to create next generation infrastructure facilities and jobs. Sloganeering for socialism is unlikely to serve any purpose. Policy paralysis and wrong policies have crippled the Indian economy. We have to face and not escape from the problems, notwithstanding failed attempts to foil corrections as during his rally at Patna in Bihar.

He said that India’s biggest internal strengths are its democracy and demographic dividends. The need is to deploy them in India’s development, launch skill development among the existing manpower as mission.

Mr. Modi’s address was followed by question-answer session on wide range of subjects ranging from manufacturing defence equipment to taxation and labour laws reforms.

Excerpts:

– Focus on research and technology in manufacturing defence equipment and privatization for self-reliance;

– Labour laws should be made a State Subject. Gujarat’s labour laws ensures almost zero man-days loss because of family-like relation between employers and employees;

– Involving participation of poor in MNREGA;

– Ending ‘tax terrorism’ and holding brainstorming debate on sustainable tax reforms;

– Taking the country out of policy paralysis for economic growth;

– Needed ‘balanced growth’ of agriculture, industry and service sectors for ‘balanced economic growth’; and

– Needed qualitative improvement in health services, introducing preventive healthcare polices.

FICCI President Siddharth Birl presented the outline of the apex trade organization’s executive committee’s agenda.