Democratic Alliance ( NDA )

VK BAHUGUNA

start their own ventures and so far more than 28 crore loans worth 14.9

government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed seven years in office . For the first time since 1984 a single political party won absolute majority in 2014 . The BJP improved its tally in 2019 Lok Sabha elections . However , the Shiv Sena and Akali Dal are no longer in the NDA . The BJP celebrated the occasion as ' service day '. This is the longest but a tumultuous period of a stable government in power . What does this ' service day ' means for the common man ?

Modi government has some solid achievements during the first term which got him solid support in Uttar Pradesh and other North Indian states and West Bengal . The linking of Aadhar card to mobile and bank accounts is a key achievement . Another was to open 38.35 crore ' Jan Dhan ' accounts . The digitization of government departments and banks helped in checking grassroots corruption as money of more than 300 schemes is transferred directly in the accounts of the beneficiaries — the government saved Rs 1.5 lakh crore which otherwise would have leaked out due to corruption .

Eradicating open defecation by sanctioning toilets which along with ' Swatch Bharat Scheme ' is estimated to have prevented three lakh deaths

from water- borne diseases and " Ujjawala Scheme " under which eight crore households were provided gas connections won the hearts of rural people , particularly women . Kitchens were made smoke-free . Rural homes enjoyed the luxury of toilets . It drastically cut the political base of caste-based opposition parties in the Hindi heartland . The ' Ayushman Bharat ' scheme is unique which covers 50 crore population under one of the largest governmentsponsored health programmes in the world . Fifteen more AIIMS were

created and 157 Medical Colleges opened , increasing medical seats by 35,000 . The government also started National Digital Health Mission for telemedicine . The government had promised housing to two crore slum dwellers and so far 48 lakh houses had been constructed and more than a crore are under construction . The Mudra schme was launched to promote the young entrepreneurs to

lakh crore rupees were sanctioned creating 1.12 crore jobs .

The Goods and Services tax ( GST ) is the biggest tax reforms since independence and is now paying dividend . Yet another epoch-making reform was declaring triple talaq illegal -- opposed by the opposition , it was accepted by Muslim women . The one rank one pension in 2015 and Jal Jeevan Mission in 2019 are two more successful schemes .

However , unemployment is still around 11 per cent thanks to Covid-19 pandemic . The doubling of farmers ' income is still nowhere near the target and the situation was compounded by the stalemate caused by the farmers ' agitation . The government first must concentrate on gradual but serious systemic changes to ensure holistic long-lasting reforms . The second is to make drastic changes in the health sector and move to universal health care like the one in Britain . A new comprehensive Act for the health sector needs to be enacted so that health infrastructure is modernized , monitored and is people friendly . Third , we need to provide best education to children by substantial increase in Navodaya type schools and creating infrastructure in government schools at par with public schools . �