Year ender 2022: A look at key decisions taken by Modi govt this year

New Delhi, Dec 16: We are just a few days away from entering the new year 2023. As we bid adieu to 2022, let's look back some key decisions taken by Government of India on which the country is and will be acting in the coming years.

Agnipath scheme: The Agnipath scheme was announced by the defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday June 14th 2022 for recruitment of soldiers below the rank of commissioned officers into the three services of the armed forces. All recruits will be hired only for a four year period. Personnel recruited under this system are to be called Agniveers, which will be a new military rank. The introduction of the scheme has been criticised for lack of consultation and public debate. The scheme was implemented in September 2022.

New Vande Bharat trains: In the biggest budget allocation for the Indian Railways, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "400 new generation Vande Bharat trains with better efficiency to be brought in during the next 3 years; 100 PM Gati Shakti Cargo terminals to be developed during next 3 years and implementation of innovative ways for building metro systems." The Vande Bharat Express, previously known as Train 18, is a semi-high-speed train operated by the Indian Railways.

5G launched in India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 1 launched the 5G telephony services in the country, ushering in an era of ultra high-speed internet on mobile phones. The Prime Minister launched the 5G services in select cities at the IMC 2022 conference. The services will progressively cover the entire country over the next couple of years. Capable of supporting ultra-high-speed internet, the fifth generation or 5G service is expected to unleash new economic opportunities and societal benefits, serving as a transformational force for Indian society.

National Logistics Policy: National Logistics Policy (NLP) was launched on 17th September 2022, that aims to lower the cost of logistics and lead it to par with other developed countries. It is a comprehensive effort to address cost inefficiency by laying down an overarching interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral, and multi-jurisdictional framework for developing entire logistics ecosystem. This would boost economic growth, provide employment opportunities, and make Indian products more competitive in the global market.

PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP): PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP), a GIS based platform with portals of various Ministries/Departments of Government, was launched in October, 2021. It is a transformative approach to facilitate data-based decisions related to integrated planning of multimodal infrastructure, thereby reducing logistics cost. For enhanced capital expenditure by states for infrastructure development, the Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure through the "Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment for 2022-23" on 6th April 2022 has made a additional provision of Rs. 1,00,000 crore for disbursement among the states as long term loans at a zero interest rate. Out of this, under Part II of the scheme Rs 5,000 crore are specifically provided for PM GatiShakti related expenditure.