Scripting the New India History

Why is this column important for the UPSC Civil Services Exam?

The writer of this column is former Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu. This editorial explains the Modi government’s achievements since 2014 with statistics and facts and provides essential material for the UPSC Civil Services Prelims Exam.

 

Essential Points for Preliminary Exam
  • Emerging as the fourth largest economy in the world, poised to become the third largest sooner than predicted, it must be noted that India is projected to be the world’s fastest-growing major economy at 6.3 per cent to 6.8 per cent in 2025–26.

 

  • As per the revised International Poverty Line (IPL) from $2.15/day (2017 PPP) to $3.00/day (2021 PPP) put out by the World Bank, India’s extreme poverty rate declined sharply to 5.3 per cent in 2022-23 from 27.1 per cent in 2011-12.

 

  • Under Jal Jeevan Mission, 100 percent tap water is available in 15.59 crore rural households in eight states and three union territories.

 

  • Under Saubhagya Yojana, 2.86 crore houses have been electrified.

 

  • Around 10.33 crore LPG connections have been distributed under the PM Ujjwala Yojana with 32.94 crore active users, as of March 2025.

 

  • Housing has been a priority since 2014, and up until now, over four crore houses have been built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), including 92.72 lakh under PMAY-Urban (90 lakh owned by women) and 2.77 crore under PMAY-Grameen.

 

  • In what is known as the world’s largest food security scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana delivers free rations to 81 crore people.

 

  • A sanitation revolution has transformed rural areas, with more than 12 crore toilets built across the country, with more than 6 lakh villages ODF, under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

 

  • The agriculture budget has seen a sharp hike by nearly five times, from Rs 27,663 crore (2013–14) to Rs 1,37,664.35 crore (2024–25).

 

  • Under PM-KISAN, Rs 3.7 lakh crore were transferred to 11 crore farmers as direct financial assistance, as of May 2025, while Rs 10 lakh crore credit was provided to 7.71 crore farmers under Kisan Credit Card (KCC), and the loan limit was increased to Rs 5 lakh for 2025-26. As a result, foodgrain production grew from 265.05 million tonnes (2014–15) to 347.44 million tonnes (2024–25).

 

  • Financial and digital inclusion is a hallmark of this period, with the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana claiming 55.17 crore bank accounts, Rs 2.61 lakh crore deposits and 30.80 crore women account holders by March 2025.

 

  • StartUp India has turned the country into the third-largest startup and Unicorn (118) ecosystem in the world.

 

  • Another key milestone is the construction of 4 lakh km of rural roads and 40,000 km of highways.

 

  • The country saw a remarkable spike in FDI inflows ($667.74 billion: FDI received in 2014-24, which equals 67 per cent of total FDI since 2000).

 

  • India is the world leader in digital transactions today, with UPI processing 172 billion transactions in 2024 alone.