New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded scientists and said that it is the result of the strength of our industrialists and scientists, that today India does not need to depend on any other nation for COVID-19 vaccines.
Delivering the customary address to the nation on the occasion of Independence Day from Red Fort, the Prime Minister said: "In every country's development journey, a point comes when a country re-defines itself and takes itself forward with a new pledge. Indians have fought COVID with a lot of patience. Our healthcare workers, frontline workers and the vaccine makers and said that doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, cleaning workers, vaccine makers - everyone who has worked diligently to serve people during the COVID pandemic, deserve our gratitude."
"Indians have fought this battle with a lot of patience. We had many challenges but we worked with extraordinary pace in every area. It is a result of the strength of our industrialists and scientists, that today India does not need to depend on any other nation for vaccines," the Prime Minister said in his address. PM Modi further said, "We had spent so long getting the polio vaccine! When the entire world was facing a pandemic, how long would India need to get a vaccine? But today, we can proudly say that the World's Largest Vaccine Programme is running in India. Over 54 crore vaccine doses have been administered."
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The Prime Minister also called on to the nation and said, "We must get to work right now. The nation needs to change and we need to change as citizens as well according to the changing times." On the occasion of 75th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hoisted the national flag and delivered the customary address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi.
Similarly, Prime Minister Modi on Sunday announced that 75 'Vande Bharat' trains would connect different parts of the country in 75 weeks to mark the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' being observed by the nation. The Prime Minister also said that it is unprecedented that how new airports are being built under the UDAN scheme connecting far-flung areas.
Delivering the customary address to the nation on the occasion of Independence Day from Red Fort in the national capital, PM Modi said: "In 75 weeks of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, 75 Vande Bharat trains will connect different parts of the country. Today the speed at which new airports are being built in the country, UDAN scheme connecting far-flung areas is also unprecedented."
"From new waterways to connecting new places through seaplanes, work is undergoing at rapid speed. Indian Railways, too, is undergoing a change to modernize itself," he said. "Today we see our villages changing rapidly. In past few years, facilities like road and electricity have reached villages. Today, the optical fibre network is providing the power of data to villages, internet is reaching there. Digital entrepreneurs are getting ready in villages too." He also said that the Himalayan region including our Eastern India, North Eastern states, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Coastal Belt and the Tribal zones would become a big base for India's development in future.
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"Today, a new history of connectivity is being written in the North East. The work of connecting all the state capitals of North-East with rail service is going to be completed very soon," he said. "Rail services will be connecting every capital of the Northeast very soon. Under the Act East Policy, Northeastern states are being connected to Bangladesh, Myanmar and South East Asia," he added.
(ANI)
