Feeling of nationalism in officers, others can help build a prosperous India: Minister

Union minister Kaushal Kishore on Thursday said a feeling of nationalism in government officers and other citizens can help the country achieve its economic and other goals on time and thus build a prosperous India.Addressing an event organised here by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on ease of doing business, he also said the delay in implementation of the Smart City project has taken place due to slow pace of work by officers.We are talking about ease of doing business here which is a very apt subject.

Union minister Kaushal Kishore on Thursday said a ''feeling of nationalism'' in government officers and other citizens can help the country achieve its economic and other goals on time and thus build a prosperous India.

Addressing an event organised here by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on ease of doing business, he also said the ''delay in implementation'' of the Smart City project has taken place due to ''slow pace of work by officers''.

''We are talking about ease of doing business here which is a very apt subject. I listened to the suggestions made by people earlier (on the dais) that there has to be a nodal officer for hand-holding those opening...a new unit...and I agree with that. There was also a suggestion made to have a provision for registration and not licences as there are issues in renewal of a licence,'' he said.

The Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs said he would put up these suggestions, among others, to the people concerned in the central government.

''However, there is one thing, I wish to add here. The fast pace of business activities and less hurdles faced in doing business is also linked to the feeling of nationalism,'' Kishore said.

He cited examples of Japan and China to emphasise his point and said Japan which was attacked with nuclear bombs in 1945 during the World War II rebuilt itself into a major leader in technology and other fields as ''all its people, whether from the government, administration, media and ordinary citizens, decided to work towards building a country with 'Make-in-Japan' vision''.

The People's Republic of China, which was established two years after India's Independence, had a similar vision of 'Make-in-China' and they took over large portions of markets, including in India, with their cheap products which people wanted.

So, with a ''feeling of nationalism'' things can be done better. Officers will do their work more diligently if they have those feelings that ''they are doing it for their country and its prosperity'', the minister said.

In his speech, he also mentioned about the Smart City project, and ''delay in its implementation'' to make his point.

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had launched the Smart Cities Mission in June 2015. The ''delay in implementation'' of the project has taken place due to ''slow pace of work by officers''.

The ministry has extended the timeline for the implementation of Smart Cities Mission to June 2023 due to the Covid pandemic and other reasons, a senior official had said early December 2021.

According to an earlier deadline, the cities were expected to complete their projects within five years of being selected under the Smart Cities Mission.

The official said all the 100 smart cities selected under the mission will now have to complete their projects by June 2023.

Hundred smart cities had been selected through four rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. Kishore also emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ''gave the slogans of Make-in-India' and 'vocal for local'. And, we must translate this vision into action so that it becomes 'local for global' and Indian products are sold not only across India but abroad too''.

Several members of Parliament attended the event at the PHDCCI office here.

BJP MP Hema Malini, said, ''I have been elected twice as an MP from Mathura, and it is a holy city and a major tourist attraction, and it cannot be seen like an ordinary one.'' ''When I was elected for the first time...there were a lot of work to be done then, whether it was sanitation issues or traffic congestion. Lots of things are done but a lot more have to be done. I'd definitely like to seek help from you (housing and urban affairs minister) to make Mathura cleaner and better,'' she said.

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju was to be the chief gust at the event, but he could not attend it due to some last-minute contingency, organisers said.

Other members of Parliament who also attended the event included Pratibha Singh (Congress), Sunil Baburao Mendhe (BJP), Sujeet Kumar (BJD) and Sunita Duggal (BJP).

Kumar, a Rajya Sabha member from Odisha, said that to achieve greater ease of doing business and eventually the vision of a USD 5 trillion economy, ''judicial reforms are essential''.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 had envisioned making India a USD 5 trillion economy and a global economic powerhouse by 2024-25. With this, India would become the third largest economy in the world.

''Also, there has to be a change in mindset of society towards those doing businesses or engaging in start-up activities. We really need to start respecting the wealth creators, if we have to reach the goal of USD 5 trillion,'' he said. Duggal, MP from Sirsa in Haryana, echoed Kumar, and said, ''We really need judicial reforms'', while adding that the business community and the government can work together to realise the prime minister's vision of an ''Atmanirbhar Bharat''.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)