Addressing students of Shri Ram College of Commerce here, Modi said his “Gujarat model” of “good governance” shuns “vote bank politics” and stresses on “development politics”.
“The solution to all problems is development. The whole nation has been ruined by vote bank politics, what it needs is development. If there is development, there is much scope for improvement in the nation,” he said.
Modi, currently the beneficiary of growing calls for him to be made the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, slammed the “sense of despondency” in the country. “People feel nothing will change here. All are thieves... People consider it a curse to be born in India. They want to leave the country soon after completing their studies,” he said. “But my thought is different. I am chief minister for a fourth term, and based on my experience, with the same law, same constitution, same rules and regulations, same officers, same people, same files, we can move forward. We can do a lot. I am confident that we can change things.”
Holding up a glass, he said that some would see it as half full, others as half empty, but for him, “it has half water and half air”.
During his hour-long Shri Ram Memorial Oration at the college, which was telecast live by many news channels, Modi did not make even a passing reference to the BJP-led NDA regime or the other BJP governments which his party projects as equally well-governed states.
In what seemed to be a subtle message to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as well as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Modi said the political fraternity should not see the youth merely as “new age voters” nor indulge in such “vote bank politics”.
“For the people from the political world, youth are merely new age voters. I think differently. They should not be treated as new age voters, but new age power that can change things for the better,” the CM said. “India is no longer a nation of snake charmers. We have now become mouse-charmers,” he added.
Highlighting his achievements in the fields of agriculture, industry and the services sector, Modi also gave a peek into his larger vision of running the government, that revolves around “minimum government” and creating a conducive situation for companies to grow at a “fast speed”.
“The government has no business doing business. Minimum government, maximum governance is my principle,” he said.
“If we have to compete against China,” he said, “global thrust needs to be given to three areas — skill development is one key; work on very high scales; and act at very fast speed. We need to internalise this,” Modi said, again citing the Gujarat example.
Stressing the need for India to leverage its “demographic opportunity” in the form of a young population, Modi also exhorted the students of the Delhi University college to seize the moment.
There were some protests outside the venue but inside he found a receptive audience.
Truth vs Hype
Modi claimed the Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, set up in 2008, is the “world’s first” such university.
There are over 100 universities in the US that offer courses in Forensic Science. In India, Sagar University in Madhya Pradesh, established in 1946, offers courses in Criminology & Forensic Science. Punjab University, set up in 1962, also has a Forensic Science department. Then there is the Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science in Delhi set up in 1972.
Modi pitched the Raksha Shakti University at Ahmedabad, set up in 2009, as a one of its kind police training academic centre in the country.
The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad, set up soon after independence, is one of the first police training institutes in the country. The North Eastern Police Academy at Shillong has been in existence since 1978.
Modi tried to hardsell the Indian Institute of Teacher Education, Gandhinagar, established in March 2010, which offers a four-year integrated course, as the new paradigm in teachers’ education.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), set up in 1961, runs five Regional Colleges of Education at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysore and Shillong that offer four-year integrated courses in teachers’ education. The NCERT also runs the Central Institute Of Educational Technology (CIET) and National Institute of Education (NIE) that works in allied fields.