He hit the political corridors of India three decades ago, not seeking office or accolades, but for the purpose of nation-building. And the best way to bring his aspirations to life for his compatriots was to strengthen his organization by changing the political landscape of the nation; brick by brick sangathan, election after election. There were not many who gave credit to the efforts being made to fight in a municipal election or for that matter to laboriously ensure the success of a ‘yatra’ at the national level pronounced by their political organization prepared to guarantee historical consequences. But then Narendra Modi always found God in those details. No effort was unworthy, no organizational goal was too small. That eye for detail, that determination to help achieve goals, became an intrinsic part of his management journey.
Eighteen years, 11 months and counting: The man entrusted with the responsibility of becoming Gujarat’s prime minister in the wake of a devastating earthquake ensured the rise of his home state from the rubble of those ruins.
Vilified for years by the Congress party, harassed by its media cohorts, Narendra Modi took advantage of the quintessential foundations of our democracy of being a CM of the people, by the people and for the people. And it is to the credit of those citizens that Gujarat has been hailed as the example of good governance.
While programs like Gunotsav laid the foundation for the academic responsibility of public schools, Shaala Pravesh Utsav was a unique effort that saw citizens joyfully participating in facilitating the enrollment of children, particularly girls, in the school system. On today’s continuum, as we witness widespread appreciation for the New Education Policy, are we even surprised that it took a Narendra Modi to reform a dormant policy, to help the nation now keep pace with an ecosystem? dynamic academic accepted globally but absent locally? The temperament of balancing the needs of people unmet for decades with the demand that India live up to both political and social ambitions internationally, prompted Narendra Modi to focus early on intertwining economic reform with justice. Social.
Admittedly, he is the only Prime Minister who has tailored every effort of his government from the prism of both “ease of life” and “ease of doing business.” That possibly explains that, while he focused on building 11crore toilets for families in need, his government was also dedicated to writing the country’s first menstrual hygiene protocol.
While he appointed a separate ministry to train our citizens, he unleashed the Mudra Yojana to guarantee access to easy credit to those who were denied their dreams for lack of money. His ambition to bring affordable health care to the poor spawned Ayushman Bharat Yojana, the first in the nation to provide health coverage to poor families of 10 billion while making affordable medicines accessible to all under the aegis of more than 6,000 Jan Aushadi Kendras.
But that has been the hallmark of Modi’s politics. He often said: “We have been entrusted with the mandate to create change. Can we do it justice by increasing our efforts? “It is with such zeal as Prime Minister that Narendra Modi has helped India witness monumental change every month for the past six years. Be it the Give it Up campaign, supported by more than a crore of citizens, that he enveloped in his grace the Ujwala Yojana and its consequent benefits for more than eight crore of poor Indian families, or his efforts to open bank accounts of 40 crore citizens under the Jan Dhan Yojana regime, Narendra Modi has redefined the parameters of administrative excellence.
Even critics grudgingly admit that the repeal of Section 370 and the dignity with which the Ram Mandir was laid is a testament to Narendra Modi’s determination. Reams have been written about the man and much more will continue to be part of the public discourse, because if you are Narendra Modi, you will not only be at the center of many conversations, but also at the fulcrum of the story as it unfolds. As you come to a seven-decade fruition of your life’s purposes, one can only imagine that a New India will emerge resilient, determined, just, and glorious, as the harbinger of that administrative change will be Narendra Damodardas Modi.
The author is the Union Minister for Textiles
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