Thread by @ssudhirkumar

As PM @narendramodi 's govt steps into its 5th year, I keep wondering how they won so many elections, despite the constant outrage on English & Social media.

This Q cannot be answered in a single post or article. Hence this thread, which will be update only once a day :)

@narendramodi 1. Let's start with the Electricity situation. Before 2014 - Those long power cuts, both domestic & industrial were making people suffer. Solved by this government by 2015 -16. By working with every single state government irrespective of party in power. myind.net/Home/viewArtic…

@narendramodi 2. We continue with Electricity. UJALA - the distribution of >30 cr LED bulbs across the country & their usage has saved INR FORTY THOUSAND CRORES . And FORTY MILLION kWh of energy every year.

Many state govts now using LEDs to light up streets too!

myind.net/Home/viewArtic…

@narendramodi 3. How did capacity incr? @narendramodi 's stress on tapping solar energy. While no's speak ( from capacity of 2.6MW in '14 to 20GW in '18), also imp to note how he forged the unique International Solar Alliance, roping in 121 nations b/n the tropics!
isolaralliance.org

@narendramodi 4. Any discussion on electricity is not complete without talking about the stupendous effort of achieving the village electrification in the ENTIRE COUNTRY. @c_aashish explains in good detail here, on why this is such a big achievement. swarajyamag.com/politics/hundr…

@narendramodi @c_aashish 5. Every wonder why the NE states are so much in favour of voting for NDA? One primary reason is connectivity within the NE states & with rest of country was abysmmal.
NDA has converted almost all meter gauge rly lines to broad gauge + built >1000 kms of NEW railway lines.

6. Not just the railways, the NE states have more roads and bridges than before. Something that was proposed in 1996, and hasn't been started till 2014 is on its way to completion. They have more operational airports than before. swarajyamag.com/economy/the-bu…

7. UDAN: 25 new airports have already been operationalised (70 were in operation from '47 to '16). ~60 more in pipeline. Upto a limit, cap of INR2500 on flights <1hr

Last yr, more people traveled in flights than AC Trains. Today, India the world's 3rd largest aviation market!

8. As part of Govt initiative- from 2016 car manufacturers are transporting their cars via water routes. While companies save anywhere between 1500 to 4000 rupees per car, more importantly, this helps with lessening of road traffic, lesser pollution and lesser carbon footprint.

9. All our 12 major Ports have shown a remarkable inc in their handling capacities? Indian Ports have made a profit of ~7000 crores in the last year, up from ~3000 crores from 2014. This is how the Sagarmala project is anchoring India's port development - swarajyamag.com/infrastructure…

10. PM was clear from 2014. Many old projects are pending/waiting to be started. We need to finish them. To enable this,he personally tracked the projects, in his PRAGATI meetings. 25 meetings so far & infrastructure results are there for all of us to see pmindia.gov.in/en/tag/pragati/

11. Imported coal arrives at port. Sent to Power Plants (PP) close to Coal mines &not to PP close to port! Coal frm mines is instead sent to PP close to port!

PM applies common sense. PP will use coal from closest location. Saves 1100 cr per yr. bit.ly/2LYISb7 (48:00)

12. Self Employment was never discussed with as much intensity as it is today. Why? Because one of the most revolutionary schemes - MUDRA - gave wings to crores of entrepreneurs across the country. Amazing ease with which micro-finance units can be setup. myind.net/Home/viewArtic…

13. What does corruption mean to average job seeker in govt? That he/she has to grease hands of interviewer. What solved this problem? Removal of interviews for Non-Gazetted posts. Who solved this problem? PM Modi.
myind.net/Home/viewArtic…

14. What does corruption mean to a poor labourer? That the "broker" eats up half his/her money. What solved this problem? A very robust Direct Benefits Transfer Program.

Who made it robust? Prime Minister Modi. myind.net/Home/viewArtic…

15. We always complained about how the politicians continue to live and squat in big bungalows. Some politicians even got elected on this issue!

Since 2014, 1500 politicians (of all parties) evicted from the LUTYENS zone. Who made this possible? myind.net/Home/viewArtic…

16. One of the largest modes of corruption was owning shell companies. With one stroke, 1 lakh shell companies were deregistered. >2 lakh so far.

Caught clueless, the media funnily called this as "veiled threat to comply with law" myind.net/Home/viewArtic…

17. ~INR 4 lakh cr generated through Auction of just 89 of the 200 odd coal blocks. Coal Scam during UPA is a reality, with convictions by the court. From scam to transparency to huge revenues - a quantum leap to curb corruption opindia.com/2015/02/how-th… & coal.nic.in/sites/upload_f…

18. I didn't understand what "Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code" meant, because those terms are too hi-fi for me! What I now understand- In just ~18 months, 2,100 companies settle dues of INR 83,000 cr of money to the banks! Money coming back to our banks! swarajyamag.com/insta/ibc-effe…

19. "Economists" maybe busy debating if EPFO data = new jobs data. But, here's a fact.

>1 crore *new* workers have been added to EPFO. New job or old job, being part of EPFO guarantees financial security in the later stages of your life. An apt example of financial inclusion.

20. How can we talk abt financial inclusion & not mention the world record setting Jan Dhan Yojana! In just 4yrs, 31 cr new accounts. A whopping >80,000 crs as deposits in our banks - can go on and on about the multiplier effects of this scheme. Another thread just for JDY!

21. Life Insurance worth 2 lakhs, for just Rs.330/- per annum. Accident Insurance worth 2 lakhs, for just Rs.12/- per annum. All you need is a bank account.

22. The number of districts in the "Red Corridor" comes down every single year. We are down to just ~50 now. The war against violent Naxals is nearing its end. swarajyamag.com/insta/with-red…

23. A small yet significant step. A lot of Delhi centric meetings moved out of Delhi. The Annual DGP conference for example. GST Council meetings, another example. Held across the country.

24. Free dialysis treatment in Government hospitals! No need to tell how dialysis treatments are costly and difficult to afford. Today, >2.5 lakh people in the country have already availed of this.

https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1004687177274593280

25. Reduction in tax you pay is not merely with just reducing slabs, but with the incentives to save more too. Here's how you have saved on Income Tax over the past 4 years.

26. This is one of my favorite (est!) videos! Businessman complaining to Rahul that he is having to deal with cheques, and therefore having to pay taxes! This is what Modi did!!

https://twitter.com/brajeshksingh/status/928194838016671744

27. Well, today is #InternationalYogaDay . Another significant move from @narendramodi . We made sure this is not just one of those days that UN declares. The fervour with which this is observed world over, is very nice to look at!

28. Past couple of years, when you buy a phone, invariably it has a "Made in India" tag. "China phones" are now a thing of past, because of this thing called - Make in India!

India today has ~120 mobile manufacturing units, churing out 22.5 crore phones!

29. Remember all those hassles you had to go through PF accounts, when you changed your company. No more such tensions! A Universal Account Number solved this hassle!

30. Perhaps the first time, a PM of India has spoken to the Indian diaspora of many countries that he has visited. Might seem like a small thing, but is a big thing for those diaspora wanting to hear from the PM! OCI and PIO cards merged to OCI only.

31. Urea which was supposed to go to farmer, often ended up with industries or rogues who prepared adulterated baby milk!

Solution? Neem Coat it.
What did UPA do? Made only 35% of Urea as Neem Coated.
And NDA? Made it 100% - full benefit to the farmer, 0 benefit to the rogue.

32. Lakhs of Soil Health cards generated, giving the farmer much better insight into what crop is best for his/her land. Think about it, is this one of the primary reason for the record food production in the past couple of years?

33. I wasn't sure if this idea will immediately kick off, but the long term potential is immense. Electronic National Agricultural Market (e-NAM)- farmer can directly sell his produce to anywhere in the country. >40,000 crore worth transactions already done!

34. Please take a look at the picture combo. Modi didn't see the need to play petty politics when Invest Karnataka 2016 summit happened. In total contrast to what UPA did for Vibrant Gujarat.

Co-operative federalism has reached new heights under Modi. myind.net/Home/viewArtic…

35. While we are on co-operative federalism, did you know PM Modi has offered to take along CMs of various states along with him to foreign tours? myind.net/Home/viewArtic… - and that K'taka CM refused to join one tour just because Modi belonged to BJP?

36. Having Chief Ministers represent the country at international forums, and compete to get Make in India projects for their states. myind.net/Home/viewArtic…

37. The real Team India! Abolishing the relic called Planning commission where elected CMs had to secure appointment with Day Chairman, and creating the Niti Aayog.

Also, the second picture! The real Team India! Perhaps first time such a picture was even taken :)

38. Solving age old problems! One Rank One Pension was a lingering demand for 40 years. What could not be solved in ~500 months, was resolved within 18 months.

39. Close to 1500 old, obsolate and archaic laws have been scrapped. 100s more in the pipeline. niti.gov.in/content/repeal…

40. Did you know that nearly 180 irrigation projects that were approved from Nehru's time onwards, were not being executed upon? Did you know that 110 of those projects are in various stages of execution/completion, now?

41. Highways and Railways, both fall under the same government. Yet 100s of projects stuck between both of them, for years together! Within a year of coming to power, ~350 such projects cleared!

PM mentioned this in one of his Parliament speeches.

42. While we are on the topic of resolving age old problems, DYK that becos the budget was presented on Feb. 28, funds were *not* available for utilisation frm start of Financial Year.

The simple solution of moving it to Feb 1st. ensured that allocated funds are spent better!

43. Where we were not able to build roads, today we have been able to build airport too. Not just that - roads, hospitals, colleges and more. The transformation of Bastar needs to be taught in schools and colleges - swarajyamag.com/politics/groun… & firstpost.com/india/narendra…

44. On a recent trip to Vijayawada, found a Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi shop, and remembered how these shops are providing generic medicines at very affordable costs! janaushadhi.gov.in

45. The single largest tax reform in Independent India - Goods and Services Tax (GST)! Remember - this was a unanimous decision of *all* states in the Union of India. Unprecedented by many standards!

46. One tweet wouldn't do justice to the scale of an achievement like GST. So we'll spend a couple of tweets on this topic.

First, the massive increase in the tax base! Nearly 40 lakh new business have been registered. > INR 90,000 crore being collected every month!

47. "1 ex the PM cited of the +ve effect of GST was the transport&logistics sector-the movemnt of trucks has accelerated as the no. of check-posts on state borders came down"

With Comm Tax Checkposts Gone Post-GST, Truck Drivers Never Had It So Good swarajyamag.com/economy/with-c…

48. You see, since I eat a lot outside :) - and had to pay multiple taxes amounting to 21% if my bill, love the GST - because now I only pay 5% tax!

Larger point being - taxes on many goods of daily consumption reduced over the past year too!

49. Earlier, I did mention that GST was a unanimous decision of *all* state governments + central government. Not only that, ALL the decisions of ALL the 27 GST Council meetings so far have been unanimous. Modi govt gets little credit for this awesome co-operative federalism

50. #SwachhBharat ! Not just any other scheme of any other government! Immense skepticism when this was launched. Today, schools and colleges all over country make it a mission statement. Students even put this on their resumes! Again, one tweet wouldn't do justice.

51. "4,17,796 toilet blocks have been constructed or made functional in 2,61,400 schools." Within 2 years! myind.net/Home/viewArtic…

52. Swachh Sarvekshanshave really transformed some of the cities in our country. Don't believe me, visit those cities to see for yourselves what we can do, if we focus! #SwachhBharat is transformative!

53. Recent controversy notwithstanding, have you realized that passport process is now a breeze? Many Passport Seva Kendras opened across the country, making them more accessible to all citizens. You don't have to travel to capital city to get passport now!

54. You know what else became easier? No more attestations by Gazetted officers. Self attestation is simply enough now.

55. Digital India. Already nearly 1,18,000 villages have been connected by optical fiber. Am assuming I don't need to explain why digital connectivity matters, in today's day and age!

Meanwhile, one guy told you that each time you take selfie, one Chinese gets a job.

56. Just heard today about this experiment from Western Coal Fields, Nagpur!

Sand typically costs INR 1600. Sand extracted from coal industry was contracted by NHAI at INR 140/- only! This was used for PM Awaas Yojana, bringing down construction costs!

57. Before moving away from Digital India, wanted to point out the various initiatives as part of this program - that are aimed a *diverse* section of the country. digitalindia.gov.in/rural

58. All through school and college, was bombarded with NAM and how Nehru's idea was revolutionary. Here's a bigger revolutionary group - International Solar Alliance. Alliance of countries between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. No marks for guessing whose idea :)

59. Recent initiative of the PM listening directly from the beneficiaries, from across the country, was heart warming. It felt so good to hear such uplifting and inspiring stories!

Perhaps the first time that the PM is so accessible -listens to and writes to citizens directly

60. All along, we only heard of "Dalit upliftment" through reservations/doles. Perhaps for 1st time, Dalits were encouraged on big scale to become entrepreneurs! Through Standup India, 62k loans worth ~14,000 crs sanctioned already!
PS: This doesn't show in "employment" data.

61. Mann ki baat. Because the program also includes thoughts of citizens from various parts of the country. Because the PM shares his thoughts on topics ranging from exams to cleanliness to farming to economics. Because this is the first time a PM thought it fit.

62. The crackdown on NGOs and their foreign funding! This crackdown led to closure of 16,000 NGOs and cancellation of 13,000 FCRA licenses. Unprecedented by any standards, and much needed action against those dividing India. opindia.com/2018/07/16000-…

63. SURGICAL STRIKE.

THE SURGICAL STRIKE!

64. The historic Land border agreement with Bangladesh! Another long pending problem solved. Unanimously.

65. Increases in ratings across various global indices. A 42 rank jump in Ease of Doing Business. A 32 rank jump in Global competitive Index. Moody's upgradation etc ! All these haven't happened overnight :)

66. The recapitilization of PSU banks, to the tune of 2 lakh crores. To fix the mess UPA left us in. Widely appreciated across the spectrum.

67. Beti Bachao Beti padhao – Launched in Haryana where the PM gave us much needed dressing down too. Why should we kill our child?

Today, the sex ratio across 100 districts has already gone up. Multiple schemes to encourage their education. A very long term plan this.

68. Abolishing Triple Talaq. Well, atleast making a full fledged attempt before Congress and its ecosystem stopped it in Rajya Sabha.

69. Atal Tinkering Labs. About 5000 schools covered. PM's recent interaction with school kids on this needs to be definitely seen!

70. Not letting politics interfere with nation building. A sterling example is the below tweet.

https://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor/status/1023994104990949379

71. Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan. Accesible India. Yet another unique program, but never thought about earlier. Aim is to make everything accessible to Divyangs. All infrastructure to be upgraded so that any divyang can easily access our buildings. accessibleindia.gov.in/content/

72. An extension of the previous tweet. Wanted to stress on the fact that this is perhaps the most friendly government for the specially abled. Earlier only 7 types of abilities were recognized as a disability. The number is now 21(includes acid attack victims too).

73. It started with #GiveItUp. The request was in itself unique, and met with unprecedented success. Sped up the entire Ujjwala Yojana. Today, nearly 5 crore families don’t have to suffer the smoke from wood. Let the number sink in -5 CRORE families! Unprecedented at many levels

74. Startup India ! Frankly, am not familiar with businesses :) - what I like though is how an important message of entrepreneurship is being given right from the top levels of the government! Apologies for not giving any more information on this :(

75. Past 4 years are proof of how acts of statesmanship have been revived. All former PMs invited to GST inauguration; a union cabinet minister was present in every swearing-in ceremony of a CM. Can list many more instances like this!

76. One of the most important steps has been the crowd sourcing of the Padma awards! Past 4 years have bought out some really awesome achievers who wouldn't have otherwise been recognised. Today, the awards are truly called - the People's Padma.

77. Home Loan rates (or for that matter, loan rates) have come down in the past 4 years. Today home loans are available at ~8.5% only. Upto 6 lakhs, for your first house, loan is @6% only!

@6 78. Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana. Well, the idea is not new. But the speed of implementation is much much better than any previous govt. In line with how this government focusses on implementation. 1 crore houses by end of this year!

79. PM mentioned in his speech today. The removal of AFSPA in many parts of the North-east after achieving considerable peace in the region.

Remember, this was the pipe dream of every liberal - but without solving the problem! Now that it is solved, they are silent!

80. Ayushman Bharat - the world's largest health insurance scheme!

81. Yet another unique initiative - mygov.in - anyone can go and give inputs on any policy one would want to. A very interactive site, with quizzes, forums, ideas etc!

82. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana: India’s Innovative Women Empowerment and Social Protection Scheme - myind.net/Home/viewArtic…

83. Demonetisation! One of the boldest decisions taken. Multiple benefits have come out; for example - one of the biggest is the huge increase in tax collections.

84. The opening of multiple premier institutes across the country (IITs, IIMs, NITs, AIIMS etc). Some might argue this will "dilute" standards. But with increase in demand, it is a necessity that we increase quality and quantity too!

85. The reduction of tax litigations! pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintR… - this will help in focusing more on the actual important cases rather than on all and sundry.

86. Khelo India ! I liked the good focus the govt is trying to bring in to sports.Not limited to conducting competitions, but financial assistance to talented players.

Small things like how the PM congratulated medal winners on a daily basis - go a long way in motivating them!

87. The controlling of Inflation! In an Independence Day speech, the PM spoke of always having it + or- 4%, so as to keep the economy stable. He has achieved it so far! (Image courtesy @amishra77 )