"People have told me that after Narendra Modi became PM, a massive change is seen in the country. There can be many reasons but crores of poor felt this for the first time after independence that they have an existence in this nation," Amit Shah said in his address in Raipur on August 22, 2022.
Narendra Modi was elected as the Prime Minister of India in 2014, continuing to serve. As a Prime Minister is rightly termed as the ‘keystone of the Cabinet-arch’, his decisions make the citizens in favor or against him. Here’s the list of successes and failures of 8 years of his service:
Accomplishments
1. Education
(Image source:pexels, educating the poor)
1. Education
The Centre set a target in 2016-'17 to increase the higher-education gross enrolment rate to 35% by 2022-2023 from 25%. According to the All India Survey on Higher Education 2019-20 report, even though the gross enrolment rate has increased to 27.1%, it is still well short of its target of 35%
2. Data Digitization
(Image source: orfonline.org)
Due to this, citizens who were not connected to the mainstream banking system created bank accounts. 44 crores 23 lakh new bank accounts were opened in the past 8 years under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, where Rs. 1.5 lakh crore has been deposited.
3. GST
(Image source: News18, GST)
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was first discussed in the Kelkar Task Force report on indirect taxes in 2003. It was implemented by the Modi government on July 1, 2017. With the implementation of GST, 1 lakh 68 thousand crores were collected within the month of April.
4. Toilet Construction
(Image source: Statista, data of toilet construction)
In October 2014, the government introduced the Swachh Bharat Mission to make rural areas of the country open defecation-free (ODF) by 2nd October 2019, by providing access to toilets for rural households. About 10.9 crore individual household latrines have been constructed in the country and according to NARSS, 99.6% of households had availability of water in the latrines and 95.2% of the rural population, who had access to a toilet were using it.
Setbacks
1. Poshan Abhiyan
(Image source: The Asian Age, kids below poverty line)
In 2018, the prime minister aimed at making India malnutrition-free by 2022. However, the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) shows differently. 13 states have reported an increase in stunting. Anemia prevalence has increased among infants and women by 14.5% and 7.5%, respectively. The Global Hunger Index ranks India 101 of 116 countries, behind our neighbors Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
2. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
(Image source: Odisha Times Tune, Kutcha house)
According to the NITI Aayog, all families will have a pucca house by 2022, with water and toilet facilities and 24x7 electricity. They aimed to construct 2.95 crore housing units in rural and 1.2 crores in urban areas. The Centre has sanctioned 1.14 crore of the 1.2 crore houses targeted under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban. Of these, 89.62 lakh houses are grounded for construction by December 6, 2021, and less than half of 52.88 lakh houses have been constructed.
3. Unemployment
(Image source: Reuters, unemployment crisis)
"India's biggest challenge has been a slowdown in investments since 2011-12," said Mahesh Vyas, CEO of the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE). "Then, since 2016, we have suffered too many economic shocks in quick succession." The currency ban, GST, and intermittent lockdowns all reduced employment, he added.
According to estimates by Pew Research, since the start of 2021, 25 million+ people have lost their jobs and more than 75 million Indians fell back into poverty, setting back half a decade of gains.
5. Inflation
(Image source: ThePrint, Inflation In India)
"In name of 'ache din' people are buying LPG cylinders for Rs 1,000, edible oil and pulses for Rs 200, and petrol-diesel for over Rs 100. Prices of electronic goods like TV, fridge, and AC also increased by 20-30 percent," said the Congress. “The truth is that excise duty on diesel has increased 344% since 2014 and 110% on petrol” Congress report added. In August 2022, according to the National Statistical Office, Food inflation grew 7.62% up against 6.75% in July 2022.
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