(Image source from: DNA India)

Narendra Modi is all set to retain power as the Prime Minister of India once again with a landslide win and continue building a New India.

How much has India actually changed under Modi?

Here’s the look at some of the accentuating achievements of Modi in his five-year term:

Ayushman Bharat

Launched on September 23, 2018, the health insurance scheme has up to now benefited 10 lakh poor patients and could be an electoral game-changer. More than 500 million Indians who could not afford medical treatment for non-communicable illnesses like heart disease and malignant tumor now have access to free healthcare.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

Launched in 2015, the Modi government’s endeavor to supply last-mile connectivity to hard-to-access rural clusters has been moderately successful. However, a number of villages cited as connected to the electrical power system still have households without power. Part of the problem is that some villages lie in areas controlled by Naxalites while in others the terrain makes access difficult.

Ujjwala Scheme

Under the Ujjwala Yojana scheme, women in villages now have access to cooking gas. This has both health and economic benefits. Over 60 million free LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) connections have been given with nearly 50 percent going to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes households.

Swachh Bharat Mission

The Swachh Bharat Mission has built toilets at an unprecedented pace. Since October 2014, MORE THAN 92 million toilets have been built, covering almost 500 million households in one of the world’s largest operations of its kind.

Jan Dhan Yojana

As many as 31.6 crore accounts have been opened under the Modi government’s ambitious scheme for financial inclusion. These accounts have combined deposits of Rs 81,203.59 crore as of May 27.

Till February 2018, an estimated 31.20 crore Jan Dhan accounts with combined deposits of over Rs 75,000 crores were opened, out of which only 25.18 crore (or 81 percent) were operative.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

The government has set a target of constructing five crore new housing units by 2022 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, of which three crores are to be built in rural areas and the balance in cities.

The urban housing ministry plans to construct 26 lakh houses in 2018-19, 26 lakh in 2019-20, 30 lakh in 2020-21 and 29.8 lakh in 2021-22.

Infrastructure

India witnessed an abrupt rise in building roads, highways and metro networks as well as housing for the poor. These are long-term initiatives but the benefits are already visible.

According to fact-checking sites, 12km of highways were constructed in 2013-14. This pace more than doubled to 27km per day in 2017-18. In Mumbai alone, coastal roads, a new airport, and a large metro network could transform public transport in India’s richest city that has long been infrastructure-poor.

By Sowmya Sangam