New Delhi, Feb 6: Taking credit for ending licence-permit raj promoted by the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday highlighted his government's pro-active decisions and action for the digital revolution in the country.

Replying in Rajya Sabha to the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, PM Modi said had ‘Digital India’ not been launched a decade ago, then 5G technology would not have spread in the country the way it has.

Describing the achievement of Viksit Bharat as a mission, PM Modi said: “If the nation has taken the path of development, all of us have to rise above petty politics."

"In the coming days, extensive discussion and introspection is needed over the President's Address and I hope the debate will help to take the nation forward," he said.

Exposing the licence raj under the previous governments, PM Modi recalled how licences were needed to import a computer, procure cement to build a house and buy sugar to serve tea at wedding ceremonies.

"I am sharing these facts as today's youth should know how their parents suffered under the licence raj of the Congress," he said.

He said the father of a Congress MP present in the House was not given permission for 15 years to buy a car with his own money.

PM Modi recalled how a Congress leader said that the licence raj did not work without bribe.

"I do not know which panja (hand) it was which used to swindle the bribe money with 'haat ki safai' (trickery) and questioned where the money went," he said.

Financial mismanagement of the royal family of the Congress earned the country a bad name across the globe, he said.

Claiming that the country's age-old ethos and culture stood for free trade and licence raj was not its natural behaviour, PM Modi highlighted the economy’s growth under his government and said it has become a subject of attraction for the entire world.

"After breaking free from the Congress' punja (hand, the election symbol of the Congress), the country is flying high,” he said.

Enlisting the economic achievements over the past 10 years, PM Modi highlighted the 10-fold increase in the country’s defence exports, the PLI scheme, FDI reforms and how the country has become the second-largest producer of mobile phones and steel.

He also talked about the Covid-era vaccine production, the rise in Ayush, herbal products and Khadi exports and said the MSME sector has been the biggest force behind his government's economic achievements which have generated millions of jobs.

--IANS

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