PM Narendra Modi's Address To The Nation On Independence Day: Highlights

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis unfurls National Flag in Mumbai
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Today from the ramparts of the Red Fort, I want to express my special gratitude to some people. The way people of Balochistan, Gilgit, Baltistan, and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have expressed their love and well-wishes for me - people in far flung places where I have not been to, nor had the opportunity to meet - this shows their love and respect for all the 125 crore Indians. That is why I want to thank all people in Balochistan, Gilgit, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

I speak to the people who believe in humanity. When terrorists killed innocent children in Peshawar, a temple of education was bloodied, there were tears in the eyes of everyone in India's Parliament, India's schools. Children in schools across India felt the sorrow. This is our humanity. This is our nature. But look at the other side. They glorify terrorists. They celebrate when innocent lives are lost. What kind of terror-inspired people and governments are these? What kind of people glorify terrorists? What kind of people celebrate when people are killed? The world is watching, and will understand the difference.

SAARC countries have a common problem - poverty. I call upon all to come together and fight poverty, not each other. There cannot be a bigger independence than freedom from poverty.

Unity in diversity, this is our strength. Violence has no place in our society. India will never tolerate terrorism, We will never bow in front of it. To the youths who have picked up the gun, I urge them to return to their parents, shun violence.

We do not believe in procrastination, we believe in solving problems. The OROP (One Rank, One Pension) was hanging for a long time. We took it head on.

My sisters and brothers, we have to fight against social evils. We have to rise above social evils. All citizens have to do this, else India can't progress. A strong society can only be built on social justice.

Today the farmer can sell his produce in online mandis anywhere. GST will unify our taxes, make them uniform. The electricity that used to be Rs 10 per unit has come down to little over Rs 1 in many places like Telangana.

We have taken many steps for the welfare of women and girls. More than 3.5 crore families have taken benefit of the MUDRA scheme. We have instated a 26-week maternity leave for all pregnant women.

All global agencies have recognised India's progress, its reforms. We have improved our rankings in ease of doing business rapidly. We have left many countries behind in GDP growth. The GST bill that was just passed will go a long way in India's reform. All parties deserve credit for it.

There used to be allegations on coal block auctions. Today it is completely transparent. The nation has benefited immensely.

Air India, that used to be much maligned, has an operating profit today. While every telecom company in the world flourished, BSNL used to run in losses. Today, BSNL too has turned an operating profit. Earlier there used to be so much corruption, people who did not exist used to benefit from social schemes. I am glad to let you know that we have eliminated that.

90 shut irrigation schemes will be revived; 77,000 solar pumps distributed to bring down input cost of farmers. Food godowns with 15 lakh ton capacity have been built; The emphasis is on food processing, and the aim is to help double farmers' income by 2022.

Today, as we talk of soil health cards, we also work on satellites. Reform, perform, transform is the mantra of the government. There were thousands of plans which had fallen cold, we have revived them. We value substance over symbolism, integrated development over isolated development, and empowerment over entitlement.

I have done my best to keep corruption away from my government. We have brought transparency to the transformation. We have prioritised the image of the nation over the image of the government.

There was time when farmers faced many problems, even police lathicharge, over the shortage of manure. We have managed to eliminate that shortage.

Our farmers have come forward to solve the Dal crisis. We have announced bonuses and schemes for this. They have sown 1.5 times the usual quantity of Dal. We have taken up schemes of water conservation, irrigation in a big way.

We celebrating the 350th anniversary of Guru Govind Singh. He used to say that the hands that have never served, the hands that have not been used for hard work, I cannot consider them sacred.

Under the previous government, inflation had crossed 10 per cent. Under our efforts, we have not let it go above 6 per cent. I will continue to work to ensure that the food plate of the poor is not affected by inflation.

We want to distribute 77 crore more LED bulbs. I urge you all to use LED bulbs, save energy and take part in helping our nation. Renewable energy is a focus area for our government. Save energy and take part in helping our nation. 77 crore LED bulbs can save 20,000 MW of electricity - worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore.

In the past, the government had a habit of interfering where it should not, and not intervening where it should. Through our intervention, we have brought the cost of a Rs 350 LED bulb to Rs 50. I do not want to ask where all that money used to go. I am happy to let you know that we have distributed 13 crore such bulbs.

In 2014, more than 18,000 villages did not have electricity. When we came to power, we decided that they must get electricity within a thousand days. Not even half the time has passed and 10,000 villages have got electricity already.

In my first speech I had asked how we can tackle the huge problem of sanitation in our country. In such little time, we have built 2 crore toilets, more than 70,000 villages are open defecation free.

In the past, there used to be a lackadaisical approach to government work. Today there is a new energy in government.

In the last 60 years, 14 crore people got cooking gas connections. Under our government, 4 crore people have got the connections in just 60 weeks.

We have connected 70 crore Indians to Aadhaar and social security schemes. There was a time when the government was shrouded by allegations, but now the government is surrounded by expectations.

We take renewable and clean energy very seriously. Before our government, we used to lay 30,000-35,000 km in transmission lines in a year. Today our government lays 50,000 km in transmission lines per year.

The work of village roads started under Atal Behari Vajpayee ji, we have taken that forward. Earlier, we used to make 70-75 kms of roads in a day. Today we make over 100 kms in a day.

We have found 9,000 lower ranks in which there will not be any interviews, there will not be any need of references and middlemen. These appointments are being done on merit. Today the citizen is not happy with just the announcement of projects, the unveiling of plans. She / He wants to see the actual work being done on the ground.

In the past, when someone wanted to start a company, set up a factory - it used to take months. Today we are ready to register them within 24 hours. For Surajya, you also need good governance.

Earlier the income tax refund used to take forever, today it takes not more than three weeks. This is the face of an accountable government. Earlier, getting a passport used to take months, today it takes just a couple of weeks. Transparency is very important to Su-Rajya.

There was a time when you had to wait a long time to go to a good hospital. Today we have been able to change all that through online registrations and appointments. This has been implemented in 40 big government hospitals. People used to face a lot of difficulty in booking train tickets, the website used to take forever to load. Today we can book 15,000 tickets in a second. I want to change the lives of the common people, I am committed to it.

When I speak of Su-Raj, it means changing the lives of the ordinary people.

That's why I don't just want to speak of Neeti (policy), but also about Niyat (Intent).

Today our government is enlivened with expectations. Today, as I speak to you from the ramparts of the Red Fort, it is only natural I give you an account of what the government has been doing. And I can give you a long list of what we have done. But if I tell you everything, I'll have to speak from here for a week.

There may be many challenges today, but so are our capabilities. If we have millions of problems, we also have 1.25 billion minds to solve them as well.

Today our resolve is to turn the Swaraj (Self-Rule) into Su-Raj (Good rule). This the commitment that we have to go ahead with. From the parliament to panchayats, gram pradhans to the prime minister, everyone has to fulfill their responsibility. Only then will the dream of surajya come true.

Sardar Patel united us, it is now our duty to to make our country the best. Our independence did not come easy, all Indians were a part of the struggle. Not everyone got the fortune of sacrificing for the motherland, but everyone had the resolve of attaining independence.

India is a historic civilisation, our culture is timeless. India's age is not 70 years but the independence we got after years of servitude, that journey is of 70 years.

It is because of our great freedom fighters who laid their live that we are independent.

This is an opportunity to renew our resolve and energy to take the country to new heights.

My fellow countrymen, My greetings to all of you on the occasion of Independence Day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his address to the nation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurls the National Flag at the Red Fort.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects the guard of honour at the Red Fort.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Red Fort. He will address the nation shortly.

PM Modi arrives at Rajghat to pay respects to father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. 

Leaders seated For the Celebrations at Red Fort

BJP President Amit Shah, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad seated in the front row. In the second row is Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Red Fort On The Independence Day

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Keen attention has been paid to security arrangement at Red Fort.