In a big push to revive the COVID-hit economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12 announced massive new financial incentives on top of the previously announced packages for a combined stimulus of Rs 20 lakh crore, saying the coronavirus crisis has provided India an opportunity to become self-reliant and emerge as the best in the world.

Apart from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) assistance, the government had last month announced a Rs 1.74 lakh crore to provide benefits to the poor, including cash transfers, Rs 50 lakh insurance cover and steps to ensure food security.

In a televised address to the nation, Modi also said there will be a fourth phase of the lockdown which will be very different from the earlier three phases. The third phase of the 54-day lockdown is scheduled to end on May 17.

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

About the financial package, the PM said it will be around 10 per cent of the GDP and will play an important role in the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ (self-reliant India campaign), adding that the “announcements made by the government so far, the decisions of the RBI and new package totals to Rs 20 lakh crore”.

The special economic package will have emphasis on land, labour, liquidity and laws, and will be for “our labourers, farmers, honest tax payers, MSMEs and cottage industry”, Modi said.

Five pillars for a self-reliant India

Recalling the devastation in Kutch after the earthquake in 2001, Modi said that through determination and resolve, the area was back on its feet. A similar determination is needed to make the country self-reliant.

He said that a self-reliant India will stand on five pillars.

1) Economy which brings in quantum jump and not incremental change. 

2) Infrastructure which should become the identity of India. 

3) System based on 21st century technology driven arrangements.

4) Vibrant demography, which is our source of energy for a self-reliant India.

5) Demand, whereby the strength of our demand and supply chain should be utilized to full capacity. He underlined the importance of strengthening all stakeholders in the supply chain to increase, as well as fulfill, the demand.

The PM also hinted at big-ticket economic reforms in coming days, and said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will announce details of the special economic package.

Vocal about local

The package of Rs 20 lakh crore will give a new impetus to the development journey of the country in 2020 and a new direction to the self-reliant India campaign, the PM said and observed that the crisis has taught the country the importance of local manufacturing, local market and local supply chains.

“All our demands during the crisis were met locally. Now, it’s time to be vocal about the local and help these local products become global,” he said.

The PM said every Indian has to become “vocal for their local”, not only to buy local products, but also to promote them proudly. 

“The global brands were sometimes also very local like this. But when people started using them, started promoting them, branding them and felt proud of them, they became global from local products,” he said.

Confronting the unprecedented challenge

Modi said getting fatigued or exhausted was not an option in confronting the unprecedented challenge posed by the pandemic and India has to make sincere efforts to become a self-reliant nation by transforming the crisis into an opportunity.

Asserting that just one virus has destroyed the world, Modi said the pandemic has provided an opportunity to India to become self-reliant and emerge as a powerful country globally in the 21st century.

“We are standing at a crucial juncture. This crisis has a message for us. It has provided us an opportunity,” he said, asserting that “we have to protect ourselves and move ahead as well”.

India’s self-reliance will be different from being “self-centred”, and it will contribute to global happiness and peace, he said.

Noting that experts and scientists have said the coronavirus is going to be part of our lives for a long time, he asserted in his address that it is important to ensure that our lives do not revolve around it and asked people to work for their targets while taking precautions like wearing masks and keeping ‘do gaz doori’ (two-yard distance).

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