Theme: 

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is the mission started by the Government of India on 13th May 2020, towards making India Self-reliant. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi announced an economic package of INR 20 lakh crore as aid to support the country in the times of pandemic. It is focused on 5 components – Economy, Infrastructure, Systems, Vibrant Demography and Demand.

Atmanirbhar (Self-Reliant) Country: 

A self-reliant nation need not take any necessary measures. On the other hand, it will want to produce and process more such products that it can knowingly produce at a lower cost and higher demand worldwide. At the same time, it cannot rely permanently on countries that dump their substandard products and undermine the importing country’s technological development

To benefit from scale, availability of natural and skilled people, expertise in manufacturing & processing products in the country, and attitude to judge domestic global needs, always helps countries let them decide whether to manufacture goods or import useful or essential goods.

Atmanirbhar Bharat: What does it mean for India? 

• Being self-reliant, India has been planning to revive its small-scale industries that earlier contributed to high economic growth but are no longer viable as some countries like China dumped their inferior products in the Indian market so at a lower price – the way small businesses Thousands of scale cottage businesses are getting off track.
• Income generation from agriculture, the backbone of India, also needs to be boosted, so that India retains its rural Indian grid and allows the cycles of economic growth to continue to turn rapidly. India initially suffered greatly from the coronavirus health crisis because it was surprised by the sudden spread of the virus from China.
• There was a shortage of masks, gloves, sanitisers and PPE kits for militant doctors to treat the infected. No country could help in this global epidemic because they were all suffering from the same problem.
• India then stood firm and demonstrated its ability to supply medicines to the United States and other countries suffering from Covid-1 India is facing a self-reliant COVID-19 situation.
• India has repurposed automotive industries to collaborate in life-saving ventilation. From producing zero personal protective equipment (PPE) before March 2020, today India has developed a capacity to manufacture 2 lakh PPE kits per day, which is also growing steadily.

 

How India Achieves Self-Reliance in Any Situation? Examples

• The sudden development of the PPE industry in India is the best example of India gradually turning into a self-reliant country.
• It has received the biggest fund of ₹21,000 crores from the IIT Alumni Council to support the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission.
• The PPE enterprise in India drastically made ₹7,000 crores (US$980 million) in just two months (March to May 2023).

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission? Pillars and Goals

• Atmanirbhar Bharat (Atmanirbhar Bharat) is the vision of Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India who has a formidable plan to make India a self-reliant nation.
• Starting with an initiative evolved by way of Suchak, he launched the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ or ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission’ on 12 May 2020 while he introduced the finances for the coronavirus pandemic.
• There were many government decisions such as amending the definition of MSMEs, growing non-public region participation in diverse sectors and growing FDI within the defence quarter as part of the Self-Reliant India scheme and many tasks which include potential technology.
• The increase of India’s Protective Equipment Sector (PPE) zone from 0 to 2000 portions per day is the best example of Self-Reliant India (Atmanirbhar Bharat).

5 Pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat

India has 5 Pillars to Focus Upon to achieve the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission and plans to focus on each of them:

1. Growth of Economy
2. Infrastructure Development
3. System
4. Vibrant Demography
5. Demand Increase

Plan to achieve the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat? 5 Phase Strategy

India proposes to build a self-reliant India in the five phases below

• Phase-I: Growth of Businesses including MSMEs
• Phase-II: Well-Being of the Poor, including Migrants and Farmers
• Phase III: Agriculture Growth
• Phase-IV: New Horizons of Growth
• Phase-V: Government Reforms and Enablers

​Rs. 20 Lakh Crore Package to Revive Indian Economy

• With the plan to restore the Indian economy and make India self-reliant, the Indian Prime Minister announced huge finance of Rs. 20 lakh crore – equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP.
• The budget is supposed to guide MSMEs, and agriculture and is to be dispensed in 5 phases mentioned above.
• To date, India has had the maximum intense closed society within the globe with very little financial support for the weaker sections of the economy.
• The size of the package deal reflects the preference to compensate migrant workers and their families for their plight.
• MSMEs, Agriculture and other key sectors are the pillars of the Self-Reliant India Mission.
• The country has put together a rescue plan of approximately 13% of its GDP.

Conclusion:

At the present juncture, when we need both growth and jobs, there can be no second thoughts about the industrial revolution. A well-thought industrial policy can change the ecosystem which can transform India into a global manufacturing hub with competitive pricing, and innovation, and make the country an attractive investment destination.