Mission towards “Self-reliant India – Aatm Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan”

-- Saquiba Rashidi, 7-A, New Indian School

Sunday, January 14, 2024

As we know that “Aatm Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan” are basically Hindi words which mean” Campaign for Self-Reliant India” in English. It refers less dependency on others rather depend on ourselves. Mr. Narendra Modi the Prime Minster of India formulated and took the initiative of Aatm Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan during the Covid Pandemic and envisioned to make India and Indians self-reliant by starting the production of all mandatory items locally. “Vocal for local” slogan was given by the Indian Government for the Self-Reliant India.

But to our better understanding “Self-reliant India” vision is not at all new. In fact, it has been an integral part of India’s economic reforms since independence. However recent global events have reawakened the importance of self-reliance for India.

The economy of India progresses since independence has been huge and commendable. Upon India got independence from British rule in 1947, the socio-economic plight of India was quite adverse. The country was viewed as a poverty-stricken nation but today it’s among the fastest growing economy in the world. The economy has grown huge over the past seven decades with an average growth rate of 6-7%.

The green revolution which was launched by Pundit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the then Prime Minster of India in 1960 paced to boost India’s economy in agriculture sector which in return contributes significantly to its GDP.

It helped India to transform Indian agriculture making it self-reliant in food production. The service sector also plays an important role in India’s economy accounting for more than half of its GDP. It includes such as IT services, tourisms, finance & banking among others.

In recent years India has emerged as a manufacturing hub with initiative like “Make in India Campaign” aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and attracting foreign investment. Despite all these achievements, India still faces challenges like poverty, education reforms and rural development.

India is dependent on lot of imports from large countries across the globe and pays large import bills in comparison to the export.

As Covid pandemic spread out widely during 2020, all the import and export activities across the globe got held up. Transport of goods and service were stopped. It was very difficult to live without resources as import of goods were not possible due to termination of transportation activities.

As the world was struggling with Covid pandemic India too faced severe problems in terms of shortage of hospitals, beds, PPE kits, covid test kits, medicines, ventilators and other necessary equipments including hand sanitizer, N95 Mask.

It was the time that our present Government led by Prime Minister Modi realized to produce local manufacturing to fulfill these demands and production of these items in our country itself. In the above scenario Mr. Modi led the slogan of Aatm Nirbhar Bharat.

Another reason for launching this scheme was the conflict between India and China. More than 50 Chinses apps have been banned in India to promote India to develop their own apps.

Aatm Bharat is run under the guidance of the following ministries in India:Ministry of finance, Ministry of defense, Ministry of health, Ministry of electronics and IT. They are directly involved in policy making on this scheme.

Atma Nirbhar Bharat is a vision for India to become self-reliant and empowered. It aims at boosting the country’s economy by promoting domestic production, reducing imports, and creating jobs. The government has taken several steps towards realizing this vision, such as promoting indigenous industries through various schemes and encouraging entrepreneurship.

However, achieving Atma Nirbhar Bharat is not an easy task. It requires collective efforts from the government, industry leaders, entrepreneurs and citizens of India. Addressing the challenges faced in becoming self-reliant will take time but with determination and perseverance, it can be achieved.

The benefits of Atma Nirbhar Bharat are enormous- from strengthening our economy to providing job opportunities to our people; we need a strong push towards self-sufficiency in every sector possible. With this initiative taking place across different sectors in India -from agriculture to manufacturing- it won’t be long before we see positive results from this movement.

I end up my Essay with one verse from the Urdu Poet Muhammad Iqbal;

“AFRAAD KE HAATHON ME HAI AQWAAM KI TAQDEER
HAR FARD HAI MILLAT, KE MUQADDAR KA SITARA”

Saquiba Rashidi, 7-A, New Indian School