New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday morning assured India's vast middle class that his government is "working to ensure minimum interference" in their lives. In his Independence Day address to the nation, from Delhi's Red Fort, he also made a cross-party appeal, calling on all levels of governance - starting from the panchayats to improve ease of living on "mission mode".
"The middle class gives a lot to nation and expects a certain quality of life. It will be our endeavour to ensure minimum government interference and improving ease of living," the Prime Minister said, noting that governance delivery systems had to be strengthened for this purpose.
Reforms in governance have to be prioritised to realise the goal of a Viksit Bharat by 2047, he stressed, underlining the "huge responsibility" placed on his BJP after the general election.
READ | "Reforms Not For Editorials, But To Make Country Strong": PM
The BJP had claimed victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The party finished 32 seats short of outright majority but formed its third consecutive government thanks to help from allies, specifically Nitish Kumar's JDU and Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party.
"We were given a huge responsibility and introduced major reforms (and) I would like to assure (my) countrymen... our commitment to reforms is not limited to pink paper editorials," he said, adding, "Our commitment is not for a few days of appreciation. Our reform procedure is not under any compulsions... it is with the intention of strengthening the country."
Mr Modi made a similar statement in February this year, when he said he wanted the government to have minimum presence in the lives of India's middle class, which is seen as an economically and politically crucial section of the nation's population.
"... I especially don't approve of government interference in the lives of the middle class. What is the need of government every day and at every step? We should create a society in which government interference is minimal," he had said at a textile industry event in Mumbai.
And on Independence Day in 2021 and 2020 too, Mr Modi had said the aim of his government is "to build an India in which the government does not unnecessarily interfere in peoples' lives".
The Prime Minister, however, had reminded the people that the resolve towards that goal meant nothing without the efforts to back it up. "A resolve will remain incomplete till not matched with valour and hard work. Therefore we have to achieve our resolves through hard work," he said.