Essay on Self-reliant India /Aatmnirbhar Bharat for Descriptive Paper

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Introduction

Aatmnirbhar Bharat, which translates to 'self-reliant India' is a term coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2020. He called it Aatmnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. This campaign was started with the view to reducing dependency on goods and services from other countries.

It focuses on manufacturing everything from a needle to a helicopter in the country itself with its own resources. It doesn't mean to be self-controlled or isolated from the world. Instead, it is the ability or effort for providing the necessities of life for self and others.

Mahatma Gandhi also believed that every village should be self-reliant in meeting its needs, only then a true Gram Swaraj can be established there.

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Vocal for local – the slogan of self-reliant India

Prime Minister in his speech said that the mindset of a free India should be vocal for locals. The government has asked for the products not just to be made in India but also for promoting the local brands, manufacturing, and supply chain.

This slogan has given significance to our local brands to have a global presence. The government has asked local companies to focus on Indian-made products and promote local brands.

Local for the global is an extension of the vocal for local campaign to give a global appeal to Indian products.

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Package for self-reliant India

The self-reliant India campaign stresses the fact that it is time to become vocal for our local products and make them global. Under this campaign, some announcements have been made by the government such as –

• The total economic package of 20 lakh crores for the self-reliant India campaign has been announced.
• Rs. 2 lakh crore (approx.) will be given to the poor under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.
• Under the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ scheme, eligible people can take their share of grain from the ration depot wherever they are in any corner of the country.
• The wages of MNREGA workers have been increased from Rs 182 per day to Rs 202 per day.

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India’s strategy for self-reliant

Under the strategy of self-reliant India, the government has focused on 4L - land, labor, liquidity, and law.

1. Land: No industry can be established without land. In such a situation, the land issue will be cleared for the establishment of industries.
2. Labour: Even without labour, industry or trade cannot be imagined, but there are many complications regarding the labour law in India. For this, logical laws need to be made.
3. Liquidity: Liquidity is also very important to run the wheel of economic activities. It is a market feature whereby an individual or firm can quickly purchase or sell an asset without causing a drastic change in the asset's price.
4. Law: There are many such complicated laws in the country, due to which development is hindered, so major changes will be made in the law to clear the way for Self-Reliant.

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Pillars of self-reliant India

There are major five pillars of the self-reliant India campaign.

1. Economy: This campaign will try to bring a quantum jump, rather than incremental change.
2. Infrastructure: It will reform the necessary investments in basic infrastructure so that indigenous goods can compete with international products.
3. Technology: It'll promote online services (e-governance) so that transparency in official work is increased and people can have confidence in the government.
4. Vibrant Demography: We have huge reserves of youth power. That is why they have been called Vibrant Demography. To convert them into a profitable resource, we have to give more and more work to the people.
5. Demand: There is no shortage of demand for goods in India having a population of 137 crores. We have to use this huge demand to increase sales of goods manufactured in our country and strengthen our supply chain.

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Challenges in its mission

• The government claims that the economic stimulus package (20 lakh crores) for the Self-Reliant India Campaign is about 10% of India’s GDP. But financing this package can be quite difficult for the government.
• India needs to be self-reliant in the energy sector to run its fast-growing economy. Despite having the world's fourth-largest coal reserves and being the second-largest producer, India is the second-largest importer of coal.
• Dependence on crude oil is also the biggest external dependency of the country. India imports about 80% of its consumption requirement. Similarly, 80-90% of solar equipment is imported for the plantation of solar power.

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Possible solutions/way forward

• Increase investment in education and skill development by up to 6% of the GDP.
• To enhance higher education research capabilities, there is a need to strengthen science education from the school level.
• Focusing on the areas of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, etc.
• Making policies to promote private sector investment in Research and Development.
• Paying attention to the development of small-scale industries such as village industries, handloom industries, handicrafts industries, and food processing industries.

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Conclusion

Challenges are everywhere, but we've to be optimistic. India will do everything possible to become self-reliant in every field. To prove the determination of a self-reliant India, Land, Labour, Liquidity, and Laws have already been emphasized in its package.

Also, to make it happen, we, individually, have to be independent. With the help of small-scale industries, employment can be created at the local level to strengthen the local supply chain. And, with this, the Indian economy will emerge in a new form i.e. self-reliant India.