Action plan for ‘Start Up India, Stand Up India’ from January 16.
New Delhi : Taking his digital connect with the people a few notches higher, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now announced a ‘Narendra Modi Mobile App’ through which he and the citizens can connect with each other. In his regular radio broadcast, ‘Mann ki baat’, the prime minister complimented the individual efforts of several citizens and said they keep telling him about a lot of positive things that are happening in the country. “Every citizen can connect with me by downloading ‘Narendra Modi App’ on his mobile phone. I would appeal to (you to) get connected through this,” he said. “I have to reach out to 125 crore citizens. How can I reach out to them without your help,” the prime minister added.
During the course of the radio programme the prime minister asked the youth to share their views with him through the application during the five-day National Youth Festival, a yearly programme that is held to mark Swami Vivekananda’s birthday. (It will commence in Raipur in Chhattisgarh on January 12). In another major announcement, he said that the action plan for ‘Start Up India, Stand Up India’ — his government’s campaign to boost entrepreneurship — will be announced on January 16. “My dear young friends, in my August 15 address from the Red Fort, I had made
preliminary mention about ‘Start-up India, Stand-up India’. After that, this spread to all the departments of the government. Can India be a ‘Startup Capital’? Can the youth in the states have the opportunities in the form of startups, with innovations, be it manufacturing, service sector or agriculture? In everything, there should be freshness, new thinking. The world cannot move ahead without innovation,” he said while announcing that this programme will be connected to the country’s IITs, IIMs, central universities and NITs and the youth will be linked through ‘live connectivity’.
Political reaction Prime Minister Modi’s announcement of a mobile app provoked a tongue-in-cheek reaction from the opposition Congress. “We are happy that he has announced an app in which he has said you can send your grievances directly to him. He is a very busy person. The PM has to travel. His connect was excellent when he was not the Prime Minister. He used to talk to people and communicate,” Congress spokesperson Tom Vaddakan said referring to the PM’s foreign trips and his pre-election campaigns and added that now the application will at least help him stay connected with problems of the farmer, the poor, the minorities and the Dalits in the country, as he is busy all the time travelling across the world.
The Congress spokesperson added that now you can address the prime minister without any intermediary. “Farmers can address their grievances directly; unemployment can be addressed through the app. If there is a disturbance like a riot, or intolerance in any part of the country, you can address it to the PM directly without going through any emissary,” the Congress spokesperson observed.
On its part the ruling BJP maintained that the opposition should refrain from the politicization of PM Modi’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme and should instead contribute to it. “Mann ki Baat is not a political platform. Those parties which constantly try to politicise it need to reflect that when it is not a political platform, then why make an attempt to give it such a colour,” BJP leader Nalin Kohli said. “The Prime Minister engages with the nation on this platform. He raises social issues, issues of national interest. He also sometimes announces and brings to the nation the issues raised by people themselves. So it has to be treated like that,” he added
