Good-bye, Vajpayee Ji
Former Prime Minister and BJP patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee dies at Delhi's AIIMS hospital at 5.05 pm. Vajpayee had been battling age-related illnesses for a prolonged period of time.
That this was not just the death of a former PM, a leading light of India’s nuclear history, or of the ‘People’s PM’ – it was the demise of an adorable, all-round-good-natured, immensely accessible human being.
Last night when news of Atal Bihari's death spread fast on social media. Our nation lost a mighty person on 16th August 2018 right after our country's 71st Independence Day.
Here in my today's blog you will know things about ABV Ji which every citizen should know.
"One day this young man will be PM": Nehru
There are enumerous things done by our former PM ABV Ji I could list down few major facts.
1. He scripted the DNA for the Right To Education
It was Vajpayee who created its foundation with the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, which made education for children aged 6 to 14 years a fundamental right.
2. He made India a nuclear weapon state
"We have the capacity for a big bomb now. Ours will never be weapons of aggression." Atal Bihari Vajpayee
This was in 1998, when India had conducted 5 Indian nuclear tests in one week. As we have seen with our strange love-hate relationship with Pakistan, nuclear weapon capability is a powerful bargaining chip.
Here’s a photo of celebration at Pokhran after the testing. In the photo, you can see (from left) Vajpayee, George Fernandes, Abdul Kalam, and R. Chidambaram. However, Vajpayee understood the ills of nuclear weaponry, and presented his feeling in a poem, Hiroshima Ki Peeda (Hiroshima's Pain), after seeing Japan’s Ground Zero.
3. He was behind our telecom success story
The Congress would have us believe that Rajiv Gandhi brought the telecom revolution to India. Rahul Gandhi even said this at a rally, “You got mobile phones because Rajiv Gandhi heard you." A decade after Rajiv Gandhi left office, our tele-density grew from a 0.6% (1989) to 2.8% in 1999 - not exactly a revolution. On the other hand, Vajpayee's New Telecom Policy (NTP) led to a telecom penetration rate rise from below 3% (1999) to over 70% in October 2012. Don't believe us? Columbia University’s Professor Arvind Panagariya also gives Vajpayee due credit for his role in ramping up our telecom success story in his book "India - Emerging Gian".
4. He maintained a strong GDP growth during his time
During his time, India saw a devastating earthquake (2001), two cyclones (1999 and 2000), the worst drought in thirty years (2002-2003), Gulf War II and an oil crisis from 2003, the Kargil conflict of 1999, and a Parliament attack. Yet, our GDP didn't falter during his time.
5. Massive National Highway improvement programme
The Government has embarked upon a massive National Highway improvement programme in the country. The programme envisages 4/6 laning of 13,250 kms of national highways comprising the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ), connecting the four Metros and the North-Southand East-West corridors.The Golden Quadrilateral portion is expected to be completed by 2003 and the whole National Highway Development Project is to be completed by 2009. Expenditure of about Rs.1641 crore has been incurred on National Highway Development Project upto August 31, 2000. Till now 588 km. of Golden Quadrilateral and 628 km. of North-South and East-West corridor has been four--laned.
6. He improved our international relationships extensively
- Improved trade ties and attempted to resolve territorial disputes with the People's Republic of China.
- Strategic and military cooperation with Israel.
- With the 2000 Bill Clinton visit (the first US President to visit India since Jimmy Carter), there was a thaw in India's Cold War-era distant relationship with America, leading to improved trade and cooperation.
- Vajpayee was among the first passengers on the inaugural Delhi-Lahore Bus which established road connectivity between India and Pakistan for the first time since 1947.
7. He approved the Delhi Metro Project
While the Sheila Dixit government likes to tell us it brought what is possibly India's best mass transit public transport system, that is not true! The Delhi Metro project was approved, and the first line inaugurated, by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He boarded the first line at shahadra to tees hazari.
8. He sent India to the moon
"Our country is now ready to fly high in the field of science. I am pleased to announce that India will send her own spacecraft to the moon by 2008. It is being named Chandrayaan-1".
Atal Bihari Ji has achieved so much in his life and has been an inspiration to many people and adored him for the human being he was. He will always stay in our minds and hearts!
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