Salient Points of PM Modi’s address at the India Today Conclave, via video conference on 18 Mar, 2017

• Earlier decisions were election driven or based on set notions of officials. This has changed now.

• Technology has changed so much. We have to keep pace with the aspirations of the youth.

• Like the freedom movement, we need a movement for development, where collective aspirations propel growth of the nation

• We have focused on time bound implementation & integrated thinking. Our processes are citizen friendly

• India’s economy is being transformed and manufacturing sector is getting a strong impetus

• We believe in cooperative federalism. And see the GST process for instance. It showed what deliberative democracy is about

• The manner in which the GST was achieved is as important as the GST itself. States have taken ownership of this

• Why do small shops have to shut early? Why can’t the small shopkeeper keep his or her shop open for longer hours.

• We brought changes to ensure shopkeepers can keep shops open longer and this gives better economic opportunities to them

• Bigger than the strength of the Government is the Jan Shakti

• We have begun work on electrifying villages that did not receive electricity for so many years after Independence

• And, the work on village electrification has been going on with immense transparency

• By merging Railway Budget with General Budget we have ensured faster growth of not only the railways but also overall transport sector

• Our focus is next generation infrastructure. Significant resources have been devoted to the railway and road sector

• Speed of work in the railway and the road sector is progressing at a very quick pace

• Addition of optical fibres is happening at a very quick pace and that too in rural areas

• In the health sector, work is on at a quick place. A roadmap has been prepared to make healthcare accessible to the nation

• New India is not about Upkaar but about Avsar. It is about opportunity for all