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Yes, this is the befitting description of our nation in the days goneby.
‘Sone ki Chidiya’ as it was known since time eternal, Bharat, our motherland has been the land with ample of natural resources and flourishing businesses.
Legacy of beautiful hand woven fabrics, especially Cotton, Mulmul, Silk have adorned people worldwide for centuries. The Spices, Tea, Coffee grown on Bharatiya soil used to be exported across the globe. The Gems and Jewellery, the precious Stones, the valuable metals like Gold, Silver, Iron were sourced from Bharat, for centuries.
All in all, Bharat was a prosperous land. Along with economically flourishing, the land topped in the field of education, too.
Being the nation with world famous educational institutes such as Nalanda and Takshshila as well as being the centre for numerous scientific and Mathematical research and invention, our nation attracted visitors from around the world.
Economic prosperity of Bharat, had been one of the prime reasons that captivated the minds of foreign invaders to establish their clutch over such abundantly affluent land.
In all, our nation was the center of global economic activity, when the land was Bharat.
Its misfortune began after it fell in the grasp of foreign rulers and was turned into 'India'.
The Britishers, utilised our nation’s boundless resources to feed the production in their nation as well as use the markets of Bharat to sell their finished goods. This hit hard the Swadeshi production and hampered the generations of entrepreneurs and businessmen, driving them to bankruptcy and later turning them into White Collared Service class.
The Neruvian Government, post independence, did implement Socialist model of Governance but it had a negative impact on the economy. The complexity of’ ‘Licence Raj’ did not inspire manufacturing activity to promote Bharatiya businesses. Later, in 1991 during Narsimha Rao Government, the Open Market policy was adopted. Though it may have appeared as a huge reform injecting boom in the economy, its harmful effects can not be overlooked.
With advent of Open Market economic policy, the manufacturing sector within the country suffered a huge setback as the economic activities began to be concentrated around imports from countries such as China, Taiwan, and Korea. The Chinese manufacturing units were thriving and this resulted in colosal unemployment . The GDP may have been on ascending mode but it turned into Trader’s economy.
Wealth generation of any nation is dependant on its manufacturing capacity. This is especially true for countries such as Bharat with enormous population. Infact, Swadeshi products is a Pride for any nation.
Hon. Prime Minister’s humble background and nationalist value system has nurtured the national pride in him. Narendra Modiji led Government at the centre in 2014, Swadeshi manufacturing sector received boost in the form of variety of reforms and policies. The initiatives of Make-in-India, Start-Up-India etc. created a platform to revive the manufacturing sector.
The COVID 19 pandemic has adversely affected the Bharatiya economy and society in varied ways.The Government had initially announced the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan YOJNA (PMGKY) as interim measures for those affected by the COVID19 pandemic. Later, in May/June 2020, Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman announced The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan in four trenches.
Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self reliant Bharat) is the vision of the Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modiji for making Bharat a self reliant nation.
The self reliant policy does not mean cutting off from the rest of the world. It is not a Protectionist in nature and does not mean isolating from the world. It simply means being a bigger and more important part of the global economy.
The economic stimulus relief package announced by the Government is worth Rs 20 Lakh Crores.(Including the already announced Rs. 1.70 Lakh Crore relief package.) This is almost 10% of the total GDP of the country.
Hon. Prime Minister announced the five significant pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
A) Economy
B) Infrastructure
C) 21st century technology driven arrangements and system
D) Demand
E) Vibrant Demography.
The package emphasises on land, labour, liquidity and laws.
The package includes measures across many sectors such as MSME, Cottage Industries, Middle class, Migrants, Industry etc.
The first trench spanned across the MSME, NBFC, Real Estate, Power Sector etc.
It extended the deadline for income Tax Returns for the financial year 2019/20 (due date pushed to 30th November 2020).
The rates for Tax deduction at Source (TDS) and Tax Collection at Source (TCS) have been cut by 25% for the next year.
EPF support, provided to low income organised workers in small units under the PMGKY is being extended for another 3 months.
The second trench focuses on providing free food grains to migrant workers who do not possess Ration cards.
The third trench of the economic relief package focuses on agricultural marketing reforms.
The final trench focuses on the sectors of defence, aviation, power, mineral, atomic and space. There is a huge emphasis on Privatisation.
Throwing light on the exemplary examples that have boosted Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, in the current times, speaks of very inspiring stories.
The growth of Bharat’s Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) sector from zero before March to 1,50,000 pieces a day by the beginning of May, is considered as an excellent example of self-reliant Bharat. The PPE industry in Bharat, has become a 7,000 Crore in two months, the second largest after China.
Bharat’s own ‘Made in India’ 5G network was announced in July 2020 by Reliance Jio. Jio has created a complete 5G service in Bharat, using 100 percent homegrown technologies and solutions.
In August 2020, the Defence Ministry initiated interdiction on import of 101 items in a staged manner over a period of 5 years to push Atmanirbhar Bharat.
No initiative can be successful until it touches the soul of common man. When it remains restricted to policy on the paper, it remains a Paper tiger. Very unfortunately, till now the previous Government’s initiatives to promote Bharat’s local products remained limited to public sector based technological goods. For consumer goods, there was hardly any initiative from any of the previous Governments to push Bharat’s own produce.
Our nation is bestowed with innumerable variety of locally manufactured products.
Hon. Prime Minister’s initiative if ‘Vocal for Local’ has provided the forgotten esteem to goods manufactured within Bharat. A Co-operative departmental store named Grahak Peth in Pune has pursued a unique initiative of labelling ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Videshi’ in all its products to create awareness among consumers to promote Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Following the Galwan Valley skirmish on the 15th June 2020, Government of Bharat has shown incessant initiative to boycott Chinese goods as far as possible. Results of the boycott-China movement has projected fall of 25% in China’s exports to Bharat, as compared to that of same period in 2019 as per the customs data of Government of China.
Visionary Prime Minister’s vision for advancing the locally manufactured products on global level has created new opportunities for employment.
His vision does not just promote ‘Vocal for Local’ but also addresses ‘Local for Global’. Under Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Modiji led Government has initiated Khadi Agarbatti Atmanirbhar Mission, with an objective to provide employment to migrant labourers, during the difficult times of pandemic of COVID 19.
Narendra Modiji had unparalleled dedication and long term vision to create any calamity into an opportunity. Atmanirbhar Bharat has turned the pandemic into an opportunity. When the entire world is suffering from the downfall of economy due to pandemic, Hon. Prime Minister has utilized it as ‘Blessing in Disguise’. On the Fifteenth August of 2020 from the Red Fort, Modiji has given a call of ‘Not just Make in India but Make for the world’...
And
Atmanirbhar Bharat will certainly lead Bharat to become the vishwa-bharta ( the provider of the world).