Aspirations of the country and its citizens are paramount

The ‘Har Ghar Tiranaga Abhiyan’ has become a mass movement rekindling the spirit of national unity and patriotic fervour among people since its inception. The appeal of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to change the profile picture on social media platforms with the tricolour has seen a huge response, with millions of people joining the movement. As millions of homes across the nation are seen hoisting tricolours, adding colours to the national festival, people full of enthusiasm carry forward the message of togetherness and solidarity, making the national flag a beacon of hope and trust in the nation’s journey towards realising the dreams of ‘Viksit Bharat’. The participation of children, women, and youth in this movement is not only remarkable but ensures that the coming generation of the nation is prepared to march on the path of development, peace, unity, mutual trust, and amity. The movement has also become an occasion to remember the national heroes and to take inspiration from their sacrifices by organising cleanliness drives on national memorials and garlanding the statues of great leaders. While the ‘Har Ghar Tirnaga Abhiyan’ has seen the entire nation celebrating the independence day with profound zeal and passion, the nation also observes ‘Vibhajan Vibhishika Smruity Divas’, remembering the horrors of partition and sharing the pains of millions of people who, along with their families, suffered miserably for generations.

The budget session of parliament has concluded with 136% productivity in Lok Sabha and 118% productivity in Rajya Sabha. While discussions on budget saw the participation of a large number of members in both houses, many bills were introduced and passed in the parliament. The much discussed Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, proposed to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, to rationalise the extraordinary and arbitrary powers of the Waqf Boards while improving their administration and management. The Congress-led opposition’s claim that the bill undermines the interests of the Muslims by diluting the provisions related to management of waqf property is devoid of merits on the grounds that the existing Act provided overbroad powers to the waqf boards to identify and declare any property as “waqf” on the basis of past claims. The existing Waqf Act, 1995, has vested the Waqf Boards with extraordinary powers that affected the lives of many ordinary Muslims and their property while making extraordinary claims to appropriate land from non-Muslims.

As millions of homes across the nation are seen hoisting tricolours, adding colours to the national festival, people full of enthusiasm carry forward the message of togetherness and solidarity, making the national flag a beacon of hope and trust in the nation’s journey towards realising the dreams of ‘Viksit Bharat’

Moreover, in 2013 and 14, the then Congress-led UPA government made two successive efforts to make further malafide amendments to the Act to give unbridled powers and completely exempt it from any oversight, along with stringent penal provisions for unauthorised occupation of waqf land. As the bill has been sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee now, it is expected that the Congress-led opposition will rise above vote-bank politics and help in building consensus for better administration and management of Waqf properties in the interest of women, children, and backward and poor sections of the Muslim community.

In the NITI Aayog meeting, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has rightly emphasised that the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ can be realised through ‘Viksit States’ and that the aspiration should reach the grassroot level. He called upon the NITI Aayog to focus on aspirational district programs, investment-friendly charters, river grids at the state level, demographic management plans, and creating a state vision for 2047. In his inaugural address to the CII session on ‘Journey towards Viksit Bharat: A Post Union Budget 2024-25 Conference’, he emphasised the speed and scale of the work done in the last 10 years and the political will, intent, and commitment of the government in realising the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’. There is no doubt that the aspirations of the country and its citizens are paramount to the Prime Minister, who is working tirelessly to pave the path for ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.

shivshaktibakshi@kamalsandesh.org