Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission

Atmanirbhar Bharat (English: Self-reliant India) is the brainchild of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi to make India a self-reliant nation. The first mention of this came on 12 May 2020 in the form of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan‘ or ‘Self-Reliant India Mission‘ the announcement of the corona-virus pandemic economic, a Rs 20 lakh crore fiscal package. 

The Mission focuses on the importance of promoting local products. It is also expected to complement the “Make in India” initiative which intends to encourage manufacturing in India in all the sectors which have great potential. 

The Backdrop:

The economic crisis triggered by the corona-virus pandemic in 2020 gave birth to the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. The lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 has severely impacted the domestic economic activities as it brought nearly 70% of economic activity, investment, exports, and discretionary consumption to a standstill, eventually dragging down the GDP growth of the country. 

So to improve the prevailing turbulent economic environment and to provide a boost to the economy the government announced the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan a financial package of Rs 20 lakh crore equaling to 10% of the national GDP.

How India Rose to the Challenge:

India has faced the COVID-19 situation with fortitude and a spirit of self-reliance, which is evident in the fact that from zero production of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) before March 2020, India today has created a capability of producing over 2 lakh PPE kits daily.

Additionally, India has demonstrated how it rises to challenges and uncovers opportunities therein, as manifested in the re-purposing of various automobile sector industries to collaborate in the making of life-saving ventilators. It has been seen as a launch suit to propel back the resurgence of the Indian economy post the COVID – 19 crisis. 

The Five pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat focus on:

• Economy
• Infrastructure
• System
• Vibrant Demography and
• Demand

The Five phases of Atmanirbhar Bharat are:

• Phase-I: Businesses including MSMEs
• Phase-II: Poor, including migrants and farmers
• Phase-III: Agriculture
• Phase-IV: New Horizons of Growth
• Phase-V: Government Reforms and Enablers

Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign calls for reducing imports and pushing exports of finished products in place raw material, thus the country will have to move forward with the mantra of ‘Make in India’ as well as ‘Make for World‘.

Atmanirbhar Bharat movement is supported by the ‘vocal for local’ campaign. The aim is to appreciate our local products, if we don’t do this then our products will not get the opportunity to do better and will not get encouraged. Going vocal for local will benefit local production, employment and will address the crisis of migrant labour to a great extent. All this will lead to the development of self-sustaining villages, coupled with a robust digital trading platform. Atmanirbhar Bharat does not means closed to the world but means self-sustaining and self-generating.

Making the country self-reliant in all spheres – from producing to supplying will help the country to reduce its dependence on imports and also gives a boost to exports.