Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s 17-point agenda for the nation

Zee Media Bureau/Deepak Nagpal

New Delhi: Early into his tenure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has listed a 17-point plan to take India forward. As per a report in a leading English daily, the 17-point agenda is people-oriented and envisages among other things coastal expressways, labour reforms and health knowledge institutes. The agenda was finalised on July 10 and forwarded to all the ministries. The ministries had time till July 20 to reply back with a detailed action plan with strict instructions to maintain focus on delivery and implementation, the daily reports. Modi is aiming to begin implementing the agenda by the time the NDA government completes 100 days in office – that happens next month-end. Main features of PM Modi`s 17-point agenda for the nation are:

Upgrade road and rail network in a manner that anyone can reach his/her destination anywhere in the country within 24 hours. For this, build coastal expressways on the east and west coasts, and connect them through latitude expressways.

Create a Kanha-Krishna corridor, starting from Madhya Pradesh till Andhra Pradesh. Highways, rail network, and oil and gas pipelines would be part of this corridor.

Metro Rail and BRT systems in towns and cities to allow for faster and cheaper travel.

Build world-class ports on both the west and east coasts of India with an aim to handle the largest container ships plying on global routes.

Bring long distance call rates at par with local calls for “every citizen”.

Set up decentralised mini grids in urban areas to be run by private vendors or cooperatives. Plans also for setting up village-level mini grids.

Bring in labour reforms that ensure workers are appointed for fixed terms and not on contract basis. Also, do away with the applicability of the Factories Act to small industries.

To tackle use of black money, make it mandatory to quote PAN or UID numbers in all financial transactions. Also, e-tendering of all government contracts to be made compulsory.

Bring in law to mandate disclosure of interest by elected representatives and civil servants.

Health reforms to involve deployment of male community health workers, setting up of health knowledge institutes in districts and the same to function in coordination with upgraded district hospitals, plus a three-year B.Sc course in community health.

To ensure the goals of the agenda are met, a Public Service Delivery Guarantee to be implemented.