78th Independence Day: A road to Vikshit Bharat 🇮🇳

India is set to celebrate its 78th Independence Day on Thursday, August 15, 2024, marking a significant milestone in the nation's history. The theme for this year's celebrations is "Viksit Bharat," or "Developed India," which aligns with the Indian government's vision to transform the nation into a developed country by 2047, coinciding with the centenary of independence. This year's 78th Independence Day celebrations will see a diverse group of over 4,000 special guests, chosen from various sectors of society. Prime Minister Modi has identified farmers, youth, women, and the poor as the "four pillars of a developed India," and they are prominently featured in the guest list. In total, around 18,000 e-invitation cards have been issued.

As we mark this Independence Day, lets take a deep dive into what we have achieved in the past 77 years of Independence and what are the areas we are lagging in terms of our goal to achieve Vikshit Bharat.

Achievements of India: India is world’s 5th largest economy just after 77 years of gaining Independence from the Britain. There have been immense planning and execution that led to this growth. Below are some of the major activities and organisations and their milestones that are important part of India’s journey to the world’s 5th largest economy.

India in space: In 1962, Jawaharlal Nehru established the Indian National Committee for Space Research under the Department of Atomic Energy. In 1969, it was renamed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Below are some of major milestones achieved by ISRO.

• On April 19, 1975, India launched it’s first satellite Aryabhatta from Russian launch site Astrakhan.
• India launched its first successful mission of PSLV was in 1994.
• ISRO launched Chandrayaan 1, its first lunar lander, on October 22, 2008, followed by Chandrayaan 2 in 22 July 2019 and Chandrayaan 3 in 14 July 2023.
• On November 5, 2013, ISRO launched a spacecraft to Mars called the Mars Orbiter Mission, or Mangalyaan. On its maiden attempt, ISRO becomes the fourth space agency to send a spacecraft into Martian orbit and the first one to do so on its maiden voyage.
• In 2016, ISRO produces India’s first domestic cryogenic engine for its launch vehicle program after 20 years of research and development
• On September 2023 ,India's first solar observatory has begun its journey to the destination of Sun-Earth L1 point

India in defence: India has always been a peaceful country, but we have fought 5 wars with our neighbours , in an attempt of defending our borders. India fought Kashmir War of 1947-48, India-China War of 1962, India-Pakistan War of 1965, India-Pakistan War of 1971, and Kargil War of 1999. India’s attempt of defending it’s borders has led to various advancements in the defence equipment and tactics. Below are some the achievement of DRDO and Indian Defence Forces.

• The country has the world's largest volunteer military of over 5.1 million personnel.
• In 18 May 1974, India became a nuclear power by testing its first nuclear bomb Smiling Buddha at Pokhran.
• In 1983 , Indian government commissioned the development of 5 types of missiles to be made in India. Subsequently Prithvi (surface-to-surface), Akash (surface-to-air), Trishul (the naval version of Prithvi), Nag (anti-tank), Agni Ballistic missiles with different ranges, i.e. Agni (1,2,3,4,5) were made and form India’s major arsenal in any war along with BRAHMOS (A supersonic cruise missile) we are developing in coordination with Russia.
• India’s first made in India aircraft carrier INS VIKRANT was commissioned into Indian Navy in September 2022. It serves along with INS Vikramaditya to safeguard Indian Water’s from any enemy.
• India’s land arsenal includes ARJUN a made in India tank. It serves along with modified T90s and T72s
• In 2001 , India build its first combat aircraft TEJAS, it serves along with Sukhoi Su 30 and Dassault Rafale.

India in Social Welfare and Education: When we achieved independence the literacy rate in India was 12%. Now, the literacy rate for people aged seven and above is 74.04%. The male literacy rate is 82.14% while the female literacy rate is 65.46%. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for higher education in India is 26.30%. The GER is the percentage of people aged 18-23 who are enrolled in higher education institutions. In India, there are more than 700 universities and 37000 colleges. After Independence, India took many efforts in to ensure gender equality and other social equality. Some of them are listed below:

• Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) program
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban & Rural)
• Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG)
• Universalization of Women Helplines (WHL).
• Swacch Bharat Mission
• Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)
• Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)/National Food Security Act (NFSA)

India in Health Care: In 1947, the average life expectancy in India was 32 years, which is more than 100% lower than the current average of 70 years. Indian government has launched various schemes and have achieved major milestones in the field of healthcare. Some of them are listed below.

• In 2014, India was officially declared polio-free
• India's smallpox eradication campaign took place from 1972 to 1977. On April 23, 1977, a commission certified that smallpox had been eradicated from India
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) is India’s public health insurance, which provides a cover of upto 5 lakh.
• Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) scheme was started in the year 1954 and provides comprehensive health care facilities for central government officials and pensioners residing in cities. Operations of this scheme take place in cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Lucknow, Delhi, Nagpur, and Pune.

🇮🇳 India in Other Economic Areas: Since Independence, India has overtook many challenges and have achieved them in various fields. Some the major achievements of India in various economic areas are listed below.

• The Green Revolution was an endeavour initiated by Norman Borlaug in the 1960s. He is known as the 'Father of Green Revolution' in world. The Green Revolution resulted in a great increase in production of food grains (especially wheat and rice) due to the introduction into developing countries of new, high-yielding variety seeds, beginning in the mid-20th century.
• Startup India, a flagship initiative of the Government of India, has achieved several milestones since its launch in 2016. As of August 2024, the program has provided over 960 crore rupees in funding to startups through various schemes, and 828 crore rupees in sanctioned funds for infrastructure. As of June 2021, startups have registered on the GeM portal and received 76,564 orders, with a total value of around 3,481 crore rupees.

Road Ahead for India: While we have achieved a lot since our Independence, but a lot has to be done to reach the goal of Vikshit Bharat. Currently we have an unemployment rate of 9.2 percent, which is too high for a developing economy. On Global Hunger Index (GHI), India ranked 111th out of 125 countries with a score of 28.7, which indicates a serious level of hunger. So to conclude the blog we still need a dedicated effort in the field of employment, food security and other fields to reach out goal of Vikshit Bharat.

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