Building trust was cornerstone of governance during last seven years: PM Modi

New Delhi [India], June 5 : The BJP-led government at the centre ensured that building trust among people was a cornerstone of governance during the last seven years, according to a collection of articles titled "Vikas Yatra" published on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's website.
The collection of articles elaborated on the central government's efforts for empowering people through Ease of Doing Business, Ease of Living, Eliminating Corruption, Empowering Youth with Opportunities, Health for All, among other things.
"Whether it is taxpayers or businesses, during the pandemic, with so much unpredictability in the air, filing tax returns would have been the last thing on people's minds. Understanding this, the government too extended and relaxed multiple tax returns filing deadlines," read an article.
"For individuals, the deadline to file income tax returns was extended multiple times and eventually pushed even to the next calendar year. It wasn't just for filing returns but even for various compliance-related actions, deadlines have been extended," the article added.
The article said that similarly for businesses multiple GST related relaxations were brought in. These include reduction in rate of interest on delayed payments, waiver of late fee, extension of due date of filing, relaxation in availing of input tax credit, and extension in statutory time limits.
Informing about the initiatives taken to ameliorate the public health infrastructure in the country, a piece titled "Health for All" read: "In the past seven years, the government has been holistically strengthening the health infrastructure taking care of preventive health, curative health and well-being of Indians. In the year of pandemic, the health sector has received a big boost with the Union Budget 2021 seeing a 137 per cent increase for health and wellness with allocation of Rs 2.23 lakh crore including Rs 35,000 crore for COVID vaccination drive.
"PM Modi announced the implementation of a major campaign to revolutionise the health sector leveraging the power of technology in the form of the National Digital Health Mission. The Mission will enable every Indian citizen to have a health card and completely digitize the health records of all citizens. This will enable citizens to easily access all their health records in one place and act as the health account of every citizen," the article stated.
Emphasising the government's concern about and steps taken to ameliorate the living standards of the middle class, another article titled "Caring for the Middle Class in Times of COVID-19" said that over the years, the government has been moving forward in the direction of enabling greater comfort for the middle class through various ways.
"Be it protection against frauds through Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act or the increased insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh on bank deposits, steps that secure savings have been put in place. This also included steps like the Chit Funds Act that introduced several stringent measures to stop fraud and hold the managers of dubious chit funds responsible," an article added.
It also said that rationalized tax slabs and controlled food inflation helped save money while digitization of services and payment mechanisms saved time, both of which are extremely important factors in the quality of life of the middle class.
Also, an article titled "Pro-Farmer Reforms and their Aftermath Show Government's Good Intentions" explained in detail the initiatives taken for farmers' welfare.
It elaborated on the agriculture laws brought in by the Modi government: The Farmers' Produce Trade And Commerce (Promotion And Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment And Protection) Agreement On Price Assurance And Farm Services Act, 2020; The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
"The first law freed the farmers to sell at any place of choice, whether within the APMC markets or outside. If farmers want to sell within the APMC markets, that will continue. MSPs also continue. So, the MSP acts as a safety net for farmers," it read.
The article also said that the Modi government's commitment to the MSP regime has been demonstrated time and again. Not only has the Modi government raised the MSP multiple times but it also raised the MSP immediately after passing the farm laws.