India\nis a vast country with wide variance across its length and breadth. There is a\npopulation of around 130 crores, which is spread throughout the land and has a\nrich cultural diversity\u2014as noticed in Kashmir, Punjab, Gujarat, North East\nIndia, West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala etc. Also, there is a huge\nvariance in the geographical distribution\u2014from the snowy peaks of Himalayas in\nthe North and North-east to the southern hills, coastal plains and the\nshoreline in the West, South and East. If I were the Prime Minister of such a\ncountry, it would be a job of great honour and responsibility, which requires a\n24\u00d77 service from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under\nthe Constitution, it will be my foremost duty to undertake actions that will be\nfor the welfare of all the citizens of India, irrespective of their region,\ncaste, race or any other criteria. And so, I would be required to undertake,\nfirstly, a status of the condition of the demographics recorded in the records\nof the various branches of the government. Secondly, an introspection of the\nvarious policies and programmes undertaken by the previous governments and make\nnotes of their pros and cons. Thereafter, I will have due consultations with\nbureaucrats, academicians, social workers, think tanks and the stakeholders.\nOnly then, I can take a final decision regarding governance. As Abraham Lincoln\nonce quoted : \u201cA government of the people, by the people and for the people\u201d so\nshall I try to emulate this great thought to the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However,\njust a policy framework and its launch are not sufficient to make it a runaway\nsuccess. It takes months and years of persistence, perseverance and care to\nmake it a reality with stakeholders. And for any such success, a government\nrequires economic and human resource strength. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently,\nIndia is the 6th largest economy in the world. However, we are still troubled\nby oil and defence imports, which impact our Current Account Deficit. Add to\nthis the volatility of the rupee and this leads to an erosion of an investor\u2019s\nconfidence in the economy. Therefore, as the Prime Minister, I would put\nemphasis on the framing of the policy in electrical vehicles, ethanol blending\nin petroleum and local manufacturing. The Make in India programme of the NDA\nGovt. already focuses on a large number of areas. Still investors and\nmanufacturers require a clarification of the benefits, policy and govt.\nassistance in several matters related to it. If these can be resolved, then the\ntwin problem of the CAD and the volatile rupee can be easily dealt with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To\npush India onto this path of economic progress and financial security, the\nindustry would require huge manpower. Luckily, India has a healthy share of\nworkforce, two-thirds of our population in the age group of 15-64, which\ntranslates to an amalgam of raw minds, experience and a long productive life.\nBut according to a recent report by the World Economic Forum, 54% of our\nworkforce in as many as 12 sectors, accounting for almost 10.8 crores, requires\nreskilling by 2022. Otherwise, advances in technology and investment in\nmechanised units will turn them into demographic liabilities. Also, we are\nproducing 3,00,000 graduates, engineers and post-graduates every year, which\nare not skilled by the standards of various industry. Therefore, as the Prime\nMinister of India, in collaboration with the State governments throughout\nIndia, a revision of the education policy\u2014at school, college and ITI\nlevels\u2014must be taken up to overcome this silently approaching menace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But\nit must be remembered that it is not just education that requires immediate\nattention. India\u2019s deplorable health care and the state of its citizens is\nworrisome. The expenditure on health care in India is only 1.02% of our GDP,\nwhich is even lower than that of low-income nations. This amounts to Rs. 1,112\nper capita expenditure on health, as of 2015-16. 67.78% of all health expenditure in India is\npaid out of an individual\u2019s pocket. 2.2 million of world\u2019s TB patients are from\nIndia. And according to Global Hunger Index, 14.5% of our population is\nundernourished, 21% of under-five children are suffering from wasting and 38.4%\nchildren in the same category are stunted. Further as highlighted by the\nNational Family Health Survey-4, 53.1% of all women in India suffered from\nAnaemia. Also, under 5-year mortality is at 4.8%, which again puts a question\nmark against our public health care system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore,\nin view of providing low-cost, high-quality health care to the masses, there\nneeds to be an increase in percentage GDP expenditure on health, so that the\nStates are granted more funds for spending on the health care. And for having a\nbetter realisation of targets, the States can be requested to execute public\nhealth-related projects, with the Centre as a partner. This can be easily\nexecuted through the NITI Aayog, where experts of various domains and\nbureaucrats from various States can discuss. And if needed, exchanges of the\nmodel of public health care can be taken up. But prior to the execution of any\nsuch project, there needs to be a detailed report, state-wise, about the\nscenario of public health\u2014whether it be related to TB or anaemia or diabetes or\nmalnourishment etc. This can be then targeted in a pin-point manner and dealt\nwith suitable investments in required infrastructure, such as diagnostic labs,\nhealth supplements and a healthy doctor-patient ratio. In the meantime,\nincreasing funds towards public insurance must be undertaken, to lessen the\nexpenditure by any individual on his\/her health. If this can be achieved, then\nfor sure, the continuation of India\u2019s development and its progress will be\nensured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However,\nto ensure domestic progress, a national government must insure internal and\nexternal security. The internal security problems such as organised crime and\nother illegal activities must be tackled with effective implementation of the\nlaws that govern them. And for the major internal security challenges such as\ninsurgency in the North-East or Naxalism or the J&K militancy, new peace\naccords in line with the 1985 Mizo Peace Accord or the recent peace treaty\nbetween Government of Colombia and FARC, must be negotiated and agreed upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nachievement of internal peace will be robust only if no external factor wreaks\nhavoc and so, an improvement in the foreign relations must be achieved. As the\nPrime Minister or the President of India, it will fall on my shoulders to\nresolve any existing issues and promote friendliness and exchanges of trade,\nculture and opportunities in various fields between each other. But should a\ntense situation such as a war arise, it would require me to act firmly and\nappropriately, as has been in the shining times of the late Lal Bahadur\nShastri, Indira Gandhi or Atal Bihari Vajpayee. And as the Prime Minister of\nIndia, I will have to learn from the greatness of such leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But\nbeing the Prime Minister of India is not a cakewalk either. I would have to\nremain strong and navigate my path through kingmakers and people who seek\nundeserved, favours from me and my\ngovernment\u2014positions in high offices, Union Cabinet, Council of Ministers etc.\nIn such a situation, as the Prime Minister, I would be required to twist the\narm and play shrewd games. But as has been rightfully said through various\ngenerations, \u201cA country suffers more from the impotency of a good person than\nthe action of a wrong person\u201d. So, if need be then I must engage in such acts.\nBut at the same time, ensuring that I don\u2019t turn into a crook myself.\n\nFormer American President John F. Kennedy, once in a public address,\ngave the famous quote : \u201cAsk not what your country can do for you; ask what you\ncan do for your country\u201d. And so, as the PM of India, I would be responsible\nfor rising above the politics of left and right, above the politics of personal\ngain, benefits and selfishness. I would rise above the domains of greed and\ncorruption and usher a new era of the Government, which cares for the rich and\nthe poor alike, treats illiterates and academicians with dignity and follows\nthe word of the Constitution to the \nletter. Thereby, ushering an age where governments shall only be \u201cOf all\nPeople, By all People and For all People\u201d. And in such an era, I would wish as\na Prime Minister of India that the motto of the people and government be as\nepitomised in the Valmiki Ramayana\u2014Janani janmabhumisch swargadapi gariyasi <\/em>(Mother\nand Motherland are greater than the heavens).\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" India is a vast country with wide variance across its length and breadth. There is a population of around 130 crores, which is spread throughout the land and has a rich cultural diversity\u2014as noticed in Kashmir, Punjab, Gujarat, North East India, West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala etc. Also, there is a huge variance in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":592,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions\/592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}