Edited excerpts from Nirmala Sitharaman’s address at the BusinessLine Changemaker Awards:
We are at a time when big changes are happening around the world. I am not here to say we have become fifth largest but I will say it anyway because nearly a decade ago, we were at the 11th position. We kept seeing countries above us… the U.K. was fifth then. Today, within a period of ten years, India has moved from 11th position to fifth, which is not a mean achievement. It is an achievement for all of us, it is the people of India who should take credit for it. Yes, the government is there, it frames policy, removes hurdles, facilitates, but you are the doers. And in this period, don’t forget, we had a pandemic when everything had to be brought to an unprecedented grinding halt. But after that, the speed with which we have recovered and continue to recover, is in a way that the entire world is in awe of.
India is a very vibrant political environment and there are always questions if this recovery is K, U, V or L [shaped]. I am not here to criticise that. But the fact is the recovery still makes us the fastest growing economy of the world. This is not something you should deride as it underplays the achievements of Indians. You like the government in power today or you don’t, it doesn’t matter. Saying: ‘Oh! This is nothing. Oh! Inflation is high and not below 6%’. Yes, who is denying that? But I think [we are] at a time when we must stay positive and forward-looking and encouraging each other, to ensure that we don’t lose the momentum… How many times in free India’s history have we not had opportunities to push ourselves forward at a much faster pace? For whatever reason, we couldn’t catch the bus. We cannot afford to do that this time and especially when everything is falling in place, our self-deriding attitude should not be so strong as to make the young Indian mind suspect about what is happening in the country.
In our energy and enthusiasm to keep our democracy alive… Yes, we should have the right to speak freely but it should not be so cynical. Look at where we are today. Of course, 1991 happened…. Who denies it? But the pace at which it should have happened, was lost out in ten years. Now all that is being made up for and we are moving fast in spite of the pandemic that stranded us for a quarter, after which the recovery did take its own time.
All of us should give ourselves that moment of pause to think about what we are doing for our country. Even If you can’t serve it, at least don’t disserve it. At least don’t spread your toxicity. This is a time when we all want to be positive. We want to engage… look at the excellent work these award winners have done. Are we going to forget them tomorrow and say nothing is happening in this country. It’s all happening. So I take this opportunity to showcase not just the achievements of the country, which are there for all of us to see.
If we have ₹10.6 lakh crore worth of transactions on UPI, and an India Stack that is now the envy of the world… every bilateral that we talk about with counterparts from other countries, this is the first thing they ask. How did you manage? What did you do for this digital achievement? And look at the scale of it — you press a button in Delhi and a beneficiary in any part of the country receives the funds that very moment. And I am not comparing myself with anybody else but the developed economies who are still writing cheques and putting them into post boxes waiting for them to be received by their beneficiaries. Please let’s all sit up and stop the negativity. The achievements are in the face for everyone else to see.
We should, at this stage, please make sure that we contribute to the economy in our own areas and realise the value of the word of mouth. Newspapers are important, digital platforms are important, television is important, editorials are important, speeches are important, but the word of mouth is most powerful. We should be confident about what is happening in India and talk about it to everybody.
Look at the achievements of Bharat Biotech, which now has an approval for a nasal vaccine. In any other part of the world, they are still looking for syringes to give vaccination. This is a new model that is being patented and is purely Indian. So I’m sure there are very many such things happening in India and people are benefiting from it.
Youngsters are keen to make that leap forward and not just go in for incremental increases. All of us should sit up and be positive about India not just for GDP growth or because our foreign exchange reserves are high, but there are several more things we need to pull out and talk about. I take one example of what the Prime Minister has done…look at the people who get the Padma awards. Each one has done remarkable work in the corners of the country. It is that kind of work, the best which is happening around us, which we need to pull up and say: This is my India, these are the people contributing to India, and we are only going to move forward at a good pace.
Thank you very much for this opportunity.
