After Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurled the national flag and congratulated the nation from the Red Fort on the 72nd Independence Day, his last speech before the national election next year listed his government's accomplishments and the pace at which they were achieved.
PM Modi drew a comparison between pre-NDA era and present day and said if his government had worked at 2013 pace, it would have taken longer to achieve what the country has already achieved in the last few years.
If we don't look at where we started, he emphasised, we will not be able to understand how far we have come. "If we take 2013 as the base year, then you'll be surprised to learn the speed of progress," he said.
"It would have taken centuries to build as many toilets as we have now. The electrification of villages would have been delayed by a couple of decades. It may have taken more than 100 years to bring gas connections to mothers struggling with smoke in the kitchens. It would have taken generations for optical fibre to reach villages if we had worked at 2013 speed," PM Modi said.
After our Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, lakhs of children lead healthier lives, he said. Even the World Health Organisation has lauded the movement.
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