By Our National Affairs Bureau
NEW YORK/NEW DELHI:Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the ‘Global Goalkeeper’ Award by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The award ceremony took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York.
Prime Minister dedicated the award to those Indians who transformed the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan into a mass movement and made it a part of their daily lives.“The success of the Swachh Bharat Mission is due to the people of India. They made this their own movement and ensured the desired results were attained.”, Prime Minister said after receiving the award.
Terming it as a significant moment personally to receive the award on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister said Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is proof that when 130 crore Indians take a pledge, any challenge can be overcome. He added that India is making remarkable progress in fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a Swachh Bharat.
“In the last five years, a record of more than 11 crore toilets were constructed. This mission has benefitted the poor and women of the country the most”, Prime Minister noted. In addition to improving sanitation and health, building of 11 crore toilets has also boosted economic activity in villages, PM added.
Speaking about improving global sanitation coverage, Prime Minister said that India is ready to share its expertise and experiences with other nations, so that there can be collective effort towards increasing sanitation coverage.Prime Minister also mentioned about India’s efforts towards preventive healthcare through mission mode movements like Fit India Movement and Jal Jeevan Mission.
Meanwhile, Modi delivered the keynote address at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York.Addressing the prestigious gathering, the Prime Minister said that he would use this opportunity to talk about the future direction of India’s growth story. The Prime Minister said that India’s growth story was built on four pillars, namely Democracy, Demography, Demand and Decisiveness.
Prime Minister noted that the Indian economy has benefited from the climate of political stability in the country.Prime Minister also highlighted global recognition of the successful reforms introduced by the Government. In this regard he mentioned the ten rank jump in the Logistics Performance Index, the thirteen point jump in the Global Competitiveness Index, the twenty four rank rise in Global Innovation Index; along side the sixty five rank improvement in the Ease of Doing Business index calculated by the World Bank.
Prime Minister also spoke of the Bloomberg National Brand Tracker 2018 survey that recently ranked India as the top performing Asian economy in attracting global investment. In 7 out of 10 indicators of this report i.e. political stability, currency stability, high quality products, anti-corruption, low cost of production, strategic location and respect for IPRs, India has been ranked at the top position.
On the technology and innovation front, the Prime Minister invited the global business community to invest in India and stated that their technology and India’s talent can together change the world; their scale combined with India’s skill-set can accelerate global economic growth.Prime Minister’s Keynote was followed by an interactive session with the founder of Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg.
