As global powers concede that partnership with India is important, it illustrates India’s rising global stature – for which Prime Minister Modi’s nine years have been crucial. It was in May 2014 Narendra Modi first became India’s prime minister, and he has since been instrumental in bringing back dignity and honour to the country.
India’s image as a global leader and a roaring economy is the product of numerous pathbreaking enterprises undertaken by the Modi government, initiatives that have propelled India to unprecedented heights.
In the last nine years, India has also amicably resolved many old disputes. Besides internal transformation, these steps have propelled India as a peacemaker in the world that can provide solutions to global problems.
Here are some important issues that were hanging fire but have seen resolutions under the current government.
Opening of Kartarpur Corridor
When Radcliffe Line was drawn in 1947, it not only created India and Pakistan but also divided Dera Baba Nanak in India and Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara, two important religious sites for Sikhs. It led to desperation among the Sikhs on the Indian side who longed to visit the religious site across the border in Pakistan.
Now after more than seven decades, Sikhs do not need binoculars to catch a glimpse of one of the holiest Sikh shrines situated 4.5 kilometres away in Pakistan’s Narowal district, across the river Ravi.
It was in November 2019 their dream was fulfilled. Kartarpur Corridor, also known as the corridor of ‘international peace and harmony’, is a 4.2-km passage connecting the town of Dera Baba Nanak in India with Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara in Narowal.
Guru Nanak Dev is believed to have spent his last days in the gurudwara from 1521 to 1539. The seven-decade-old demand, which subsequent governments since 1947 could not fulfill, was finally met by PM Modi.
Courteous resolution of Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute
In 2002, several years after Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was demolished, Hindu Mahasabha and Nirmohi Akhara entered a title dispute with Muslim Waqf Board over the religious site. While the Supreme Court suggested an out-of-court settlement, as it was a matter of religion and sentiments, no negotiations were made in several attempts.
In September 2010, a court judgment affirmed Babri Masjid was built by Mughal emperor Babur between 1528 and 1529 after the demolition of a Hindu temple, which was not in accordance with the tenets of Islam.
The amicable settlement of the decades-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit by the Modi-led government in 2019 brought an end to one of the most sensitive political, historical and socio-religious fights between the Muslim and Hindu communities.
The Supreme Court ordered the site to be handed over to the Indian government for constructing Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir. In accordance with the verdict, the Uttar Pradesh government allotted a five-acre land along the Lucknow-Ayodhya highway to Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque.
On February 5, 2020, PM Modi announced the formation of a 15-member Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra to supervise the construction of Ram Mandir.
Ladakh becomes Union Territory
In August 2019, after only five years in office, PM Modi took the bold decision of granting the status of a separate Union Territory to Ladakh, which was earlier a part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
It was in the 1950s that the demand by the Buddhist community for Ladakh as a separate Union Territory came to the fore, but no previous governments offered a resolution.
As a Union Territory now, much improvement in infrastructure can take place in the region, and the benefit of the government’s welfare initiatives can directly reach the citizens without any impediment.
Restoration of peace in North-East
The North-East region of India has experienced insurgency, violence, and under-development since Independence. Many long-pending disputes among the states had been a major concern in the development of the region for years.
In 2015, the Modi-led NDA government signed the historic Naga Peace Accord with National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) after 80 rounds of talks, which brought an end to long-standing political strife and armed insurgency in the region.
The government also signed Bru-Reang Agreement in 2020 to resolve long-pending issues of the Bru-Reang people living as Internally Displaced People in Tripura and Mizoram due to ethnic violence.
With sincere efforts by the government, ongoing violence in Assam ended with the signing of Bodo Accord on January 20, 2020, resulting in the surrender of 1,615 cadres with arms and ammunition in Guwahati. An 80 per cent reduction in insurgency was reported in 2020, as compared to 2014.
Abolishment of Triple Talaq to Empower Muslim Women
It took 70 years for India to get rid of the inhumane and cruel practice of ‘Triple Talaq’ after the Modi-led government passed the historic Triple Talaq Bill in 2019. By enacting this law, the government has ensured gender equality and strengthened the socio-economic, fundamental, and constitutional rights of Muslim women in India.
On July 30, 2019, Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill was passed in Parliament, which classifies ‘Triple Talaq’ as an illegal practice in India. Within one year, a decline of about 82 per cent in divorce cases was reported. In 2022, triple talaq cases reportedly declined by 80 per cent.
Biggest tax reform
India’s GST revenue for April 2023 was the highest ever, at 1.87 lakh crore Indian rupees. Despite efforts by previous governments, PM Modi made the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) happen in July 2017 with a vision of ‘one nation, one tax’. GST has made India a common market with common tax rates and procedures, and it has removed economic barriers.
India gets new education policy
The Modi government came up with National Education Policy (NEP) in 2020. The policy reminds me of former Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who said, “The purpose of education is to make better human beings with skills and expertise. Enlightened human beings can be made by teachers.”
National Education Policy 2020 is the first education policy of the 21st century, and it aims to address the many growing developmental imperatives of the country. It came with a concept of ‘universal access to quality education’ that guarantees not only access to education but improvement in its standards.
Besides achieving 100 per cent youth and adult literacy, the policy aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio to 100 per cent in preschool to secondary level by 2030; and in higher education from 26.3 per cent to 50 per cent by 2035.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
The government recently said more than three crore houses have been constructed so far under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (rural and urban). The scheme, launched in 2015, has effectuated a giant leap in providing affordable housing for the poor.
It has also created employment opportunities in the construction sector and has helped boost the economy.
Jal Jeevan Mission
The government has reached the milestone of providing 61.71 per cent of rural households with tap connections under its flagship programme Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), which was launched in 2019.
It is a big leap towards socio-economic development of India and is also an important step towards achieving United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims to ensure access to water and sanitation for all and envisions providing safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.
100% village electrification
The government has another achievement under its belt. It was able to achieve 100 per cent village electrification, a feat no previous government could deliver. Given India’s enormous land size and varied terrain, it took the country almost seven decades to reach this milestone. Electrified villages in India are now up from 3,000 in 1950 to 600,000 in 2022. It was on August 15, 2015, that PM Modi vowed to electrify every village in the country. He launched Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – Saubhagya in September 2017.
All inhabited census villages stood electrified as on April 28, 2018, and 100 per cent village electrification was achieved in 2022.
(The author is Chancellor of Chandigarh University and Chief Patron of NID Foundation)