PM Modi is delivering his seventh consecutive Independence Day speech
New Delhi:
Every village in India will be connected, within 1,000 days, with optical fibre cable networks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Independence Day today, addressing the nation from Delhi’s iconic Red Fort in a muted and restricted ceremony amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Prime Minister said that prior to 2014 only five dozen panchayats in the country were connected with optical fibre networks. But in the last five years – since the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swept to power – 1.5 lakh panchayats will go online, he said.
“Before 2014, only five dozen panchayats were connected with optical fibre. In the last five years, 1.5 lakh gram panchayats have been connected. In the coming 1,000 days, every village in the country will be connected,” the Prime Minister declared.
In his Independence Day speech PM Modi also touched upon the National Education Policy, which was released last month, and said it would “help our students become global citizens”.
“We have recently introduced a new education policy. This will shape the India of the 21st century. We will soon have citizens who shape a new India – ones who are global citizens, but know and understand their roots,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the new policy, which has been criticised for saying that either one of the mother tongue or the local/regional language will be the medium of instruction up to Class 5 in all schools, was focused on research and development to make India a key R&D destination for the world.
PM Modi is delivering his seventh consecutive Independence Day speech from the iconic Red Fort.
