(MENAFN- Live Mint) PM Modi Independence Day 2024 speech highlights: Frequent natural disaster incidents, Viksit Bharat by 2047, Atmanirbhar Bharat, youth skill development, and women's safety were among the key issues mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Mod in his 11th Independence Day speec , given from Red Fort, Delhi, on Thursday.

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Addressing the nation from Red Fort , PM Modi hailed the Indian government's focus on reforming the banking sector, education system, and criminal laws. He also mentioned the significance of the lakhpati didi scheme, world-class educational universities, capacity building for natural disasters, global promotion of Ayurveda, etc. Here are the top highlights from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day 2024 speech.

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PM Modi's words reflected this year's Independence Day theme of 'Viksit Bharat 2047 ' as he urged 140 crore Indians to strive for the country's development.“Viksit Bharat 2047' are not mere words, they are a reflection of the resolve and dreams of 140 crore people,” PM Modi in his I-Day speech.

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The Prime Minister re-emphasised the government's efforts to make India the world's third-largest economy and asked people to have“strength to live for the nation that can make a strong India”

“Crores of people gave suggestions for Developed India 2047. The dreams of every citizen and their confidence is reflected in those suggestions,” the Prime Minister said.

Secular Civil Code

Criticising the discriminatory communal civil code, Prime Minister Modi called for a 'secular civil code' without directly mentioning the Uniform Civil Code.
“It is the need of the hour to have a secular civil code and do away with discriminatory communal civil code,” said PM Modi.

Farm sector reforms

Underlining the importance of organic farming, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the focus on sustainable farming in this year's Union Budget .

"We need to reform the farm sector. Today, when everyone is concerned about the earth, we are grateful to farmers for choosing organic farming for which we have made provisions for in the budget," the Prime Minister said.

Women's safety

Amid widespread protest against the murder and rape of an on-duty doctor in Kolkata , PM Modi called for publicising punishments for crimes against women.

“Need of hour is to widely publicise punishment for atrocities against women so that there is a fear of consequences,” said PM Modi in his Independence Day 2024 speech on Thursday.

75,000 more medical seats in five years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced the creation of 75,000 more medical seats in the next five years. The PM expressed concern over the difficulties faced by Indian medical students who often end up going abroad to pursue their education. PM Modi said that many middle-class children spend“lakhs and crores” on medical education abroad.

"In the last 10 years we have increased the medical seats to nearly 1 lakh," Modi said.“We have decided, 75,000 new seats will be created in the medical line in the next five years,” he added.

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