Reforms a blueprint for growth: PM

IN HIS 11TH I-DAY SPEECH, MODI ASKS STATES TO COMPETE AT GLOBAL LEVEL SAYS SKILLED YOUTH TO MAKE A MARK IN WORLD JOB MARKET

- ARCHIS MOHAN

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged states to carry out necessary policy reforms, create land banks, and ensure good governance and rule of law to attract foreign investments. "If policies need to be changed, states should adapt them according to global requirements," the PM said in his 98-minute speech, his first Independence Day address of his third term, and one of his longest.

He said his government was committed to reforms not out of any political compulsion but with the intent to strengthen the country, and its "path of reforms has become a blueprint for growth".

BHA In his 11th Independence Day address only prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi have addressed the nation from the Red Fort on more occasions the PM spoke on an array of issues, such as the concern among India's 1.4 billion people over the safety of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh.

The PM bemoaned the increasing crimes against women, a remark that came in the context of the rape and murder of a doctor in a government-run hospital in Kolkata and asked state governments to move with "utmost urgency" to ensure swift justice in such cases.