New Delhi, 25 August (H.S.): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Monday targeted the Congress, saying that former Union minister P. Chidambaram had once mocked the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), but its figures today are before the entire world. He said Rahul Gandhi perhaps would not be able to comprehend these achievements.

Sambit Patra said, “Today, UPI has completed 10 years and has become the world’s largest real-time payment system.” He said that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisioned UPI 10 years ago, Congress leaders had ridiculed the initiative, but the system has now emerged as one of India’s biggest successes in the digital payments sector.

Addressing a press conference, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had presented the vision of ‘Saptadhara’ from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15. He described it as a roadmap for building a Viksit Bharat (developed India). He said every country needs clearly defined goals to move forward and that the right leadership at the right time lays the foundation for a brighter future.

He said that under ‘Saptadhara’, special emphasis is being placed on seven key areas — manufacturing power, agriculture and food processing, technology and innovation, green and blue economy, soft power, Gati Shakti and defence power.

He said the manufacturing sector is being focused on building strong domestic value chains, achieving zero-defect production and developing world-class products. In agriculture, efforts are being made to increase the production of pulses and oilseeds, promote organic farming and ensure affordable fertilisers for farmers.

Patra said India is advancing rapidly in areas such as space, quantum technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres. Referring to the completion of 10 years of UPI, he said it has become the world’s largest real-time payment system.

He said India’s global identity is being strengthened through the green and blue economy, yoga, Ayurveda, cultural tourism, cinema, visual effects (VFX) and gaming. At the same time, the expansion of high-speed rail, modern highways, inland waterways and indigenous defence production is being used to accelerate the country’s journey towards the goal of a Viksit Bharat.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar