Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'PM delivers an inspiring, pragmatic and passionate speech' that was published in Newsband

PM delivers an inspiring, pragmatic and passionate speech

In his first Independence Day address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized on a dirt-free India and Digital India. He promised changes in governance and a sharper and swifter government. He was of the view that small steps taken quickly and taken across the country could have a greater impact than big schemes implemented slowly and patchily. Within one year, he intended to ensure separate toilets for girls and boys in all schools in the country.

Thus good governance and development were PM’s buzzwords for progress. The best thing about Modi was unlike the Prime Ministers in the past, he did not belittle the achievements of his predecessors, and he gave credit to the contribution of all previous prime ministers and past governments to the growth of the country since Independence. Also, Modi supported functioning of the government by consensus rather than on the basis of his party’s majority in Parliament.

Modi did prove once again that he is a very skilled political orator and his fans are eager to see him prove his prowess as an administrator. He does appear to be more of a statesman than a philosopher. It is clear that he believes in realism and practicality which is undoubtedly the need of the nation. He obviously belongs to the type who are simple, hard working and no nonsense type.

Modi also appealed to all SAARC countries to forge a united effort to fight common problems. Communal harmony for 10 years is a good vision statement. The scheme for the rural population to be within the banking system covered with an insurance is a very important step.

One does wonder as to what Modi thinks about corruption and inflation. However, it would be far on the part of Indians if they gave him time to fulfill his ideas.

On the whole Modi’s speech was pragmatic and inspiring. But Indians have learnt by experience not to judge a leader by his speeches alone but by his actions too. So the real test for Modi will be when he attempts to put all his word into practice.  

The biggest contribution from Modi on the national scale so far is to lift the mood of the nation. The national mood had slipped to deep gloom in the past few years of non-governance and it is a refreshing change to see a mood of optimism now. India's business community particularly hopes that Modi will be able to fulfill his campaign promises to jump-start the economy, create jobs and restart stalled infrastructure projects, but he faces steep challenges. In recent years, the country's growth rate and job creation have dipped, inflation has skyrocketed, and investors stymied by the country's sluggish bureaucracy have either sat on their money or taken it elsewhere.

Modi has undoubtedly put a new hope in the minds of Indians by his inspiring and passionate speech. Nobody can doubt the good intentions of the PM. But in Gujarat, Modi was a de facto monarch who could get things done easily and quickly. In Delhi he will have to carry along the bloated bureaucracy and his council of ministers. He will have to use all his human resource management skills.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if one said that the speech was right from the heart and not from the paper. This indicates the commitment to each of the words spoken. Remember that Government can take only one step but as Modi said, the remaining 125 crore steps are to be taken by each one of us to achieve this.