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Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said at the annual India 2016 conference at Harvard Feb. six that one of the biggest achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government has been the transformation of the country from politics of want to politics of hope.
“That is the first achievement of the Modi-government, and the second is that the country moved from politics of assurance to politics of aspirations thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
That is what I see India in today. The parliamentary elections through which we came to power, was in many ways a vindication of hope, and after 30 years one party got absolute majority,” the minister said as he gave his perspective on the theme of the student-organized conference – Vision of Emerging India.
It was organized by the Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government and was addressed, among others others, by former Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, former minister from the Congress party Government Shashi Tharoor, Ambassador Dnyneswar Mulay, Consul General of India in New York and a number of CEOS from India, and academics from Harvard, Brookings and other institutions, besides Prasad who headlined the conference along with Rao who spoke on India’s foreign policy.
At the end of his address, the minister also took questions from the members of the audience which was moderated by Professor Ashutosh Varshney, Sol Goldman Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs at Brown University and Director of the Brown-India Initiative.
Prasad said that the first idea of India emerging today is that of good governance, and transparent and good decision making which is important.
“Today, we are involved in some transformational initiatives to change India. Our mobile connectivity today is billion plus and India is the world’s second-fastest growing smart phone market.
“India has the third-largest startups ecosystem after the U.S. and China and has attracted $2.89 billion of FDI equity inflows in the telecoms sector in 2014-15, which is 80 per cent more than the combined FDI telecom inflows” in the previous two fiscal years.
Prasad also told the members of the audience at the sold out conference that the mobile manufacturing scene is also looking up, attracting as many as 15 new plants in the last 10 months. He gave a lot of examples to buttress his point as to how the Modi’s Government is making progress and added that India’s story of progress, even at Individual level, is very fascinating. “Digital India is designed to bridge the digital divide and to empower India,” he said.
He took questions on a host of issues, including reservation policy, salaries of research scholars in India and the growing presence of pornography on the internet.
To a question by an MIT Research Scholar as to why research scholars, who drive a lot of the innovations in the United States, are not given a decent salary in India, discouraging even many Indian-American students willing to serve their motherland and to go back to India, Prasad said he would convey his concern to the top levels of the government.
To a poser by Prof. Varshney as to why India still lags behind China in terms of GDP growth, and also in terms of digital access going by 2015 figures, Prasad blamed the late starting of reform in India. “We started very late on feform, but Indians have the habit of catching up with things very fast, I cannot dispute the past. But let’s up hope for the best and hope that India will come out flying colors because Indian are very innovative.”
After his Harvard engagement Prasad visited New Jersey to address a meeting at Royal Albert’s Palace in Fords, Feb 7. It was organized by the friends and supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party in honor of the visiting minister. Jayesh Patel, former president of OFBJP, welcomed the gathering. After the traditional lighting of the lamp and rendition of American and Indian national anthems, Prasad was introduced to the attendees as a visionary, thinker, writer and an eminent lawyer who has fought against corruption.
Addressing the gathering Prasad said he was happy to be among them.
Stating that he had originally come to address the Harvard India conference, Prasad said that the fact that India Day is being celebrated across several universities in the U.S. shows the power of India and Indians in the U.S.
“The government under Narendra Modi is working hard not only for the people of India but also for the NRI’s who have left India and settled elsewhere. Our consulates are making sure the NRI’s are supported well and we request NRI’s to actively get involved in nation building by interacting with government and by sending their feedback,” Prasad said.
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