NEW DELHI: India Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today,  April 13, that the "new India" is moving ahead with new policies and strategies, and his government is working proactively in matters of technology and infrastructure, shunning the "reactive approach" of the past.

In a video address to a Rozgar Mela, Modi claimed that the government's policies and tactics have spawned over eight crore new entrepreneurs as a result of the "Mudra" credit Yojana for small and micro enterprises.

The PM also took a swipe at those who "treat themselves big economists" and gave "loans on phone" to big entrepreneurs but are "ridiculing" the scheme.

Although he didn't name anyone, it appears that his criticism was directed at former finance minister and stalwart of the Congress party P. Chidambaram, who recently questioned the "Mudra" scheme and questioned what kinds of businesses could be created with a loan of Rs. 50,000.

The PM said  Rs. 23 lakh crore loan has been given under the scheme with 70 percent of beneficiaries being women.
Microfinance significantly help boosts the economy at the local level, but some people who believe themselves to be important economists haven't recognised this and don't comprehend the potential of the average person, he said. At the programme, appointment letters were distributed to 71,506 recruits in different ministries and departments.    To demonstrate the magnitude of change since he came to office in 2014, Modi referenced a number of development statistics.

He said, just 20,000 km of rail lines were electrified in the seven decades leading up to 2014, but 40,000 km have been electrified in the last nine years. He also added that instead of only 600 metres of metro line being built per month previously, it is now six kilometres.

The rural road length was 4.00 lakh km till 2014 but is now 7.25 lakh kilometer while 6 lakh kilometer optical fibre has been laid in villages, he said. There are 148 airports against 74 earlier and the capital expenditure has risen by 4 times, the PM said, adding that the massive infrastructure work going on is creating huge employment and self-employment opportunities.

PM attends Rashtriya Rozgar Mela, distributes Job letters to 71,000 recruits

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