Bhubaneswar, Oct 25 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday emphasised the need for inclusive development, saying that his government's focus is on prioritising development, expanding its reach and ensuring that the benefits of development reach the last person.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the inauguration of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Data Centre and the Cybersecurity Training Institute Bhubaneswar.

While inaugurating the complex, PM Modi said, "With the blessings of 'Mahaprabhu' (Lord Jagannath), Bhubaneswar is giving a new institution to a new India today."

Calling the occasion as significant, the Prime Minister noted that these institutions will benefit Odisha and the people of the country.

In his address, PM Modi said that although big cities, major institutions, hospitals and airports developed after Independence, a large part of the country continued to lack basic amenities.

He added that ensuring the benefits of development reached every region of the country and every citizen equally remained a major challenge.

He said that, through a model of pro-people, proactive and good governance, his government aims to instill confidence in every citizen that they will not be left behind in the journey of development.

Citing the lack of access to banking services as an example, PM Modi added, "Banks were nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s in the name of the poor. Yet, until 2014, more than half of the country's population remained outside the banking system. Even bank loans were a distant dream for the middle class, while the poor, small farmers, landless people, sisters and daughters could not even think of accessing such facilities. Today, digital banking in India has connected everyone to 24-hour banking services."

The Prime Minister also took a jibe at the phone banking model under the previous Congress-led UPA government, alleging that it benefited only the wealthy and those with links to Congress leaders, while the poor were deprived of basic banking services.

"Poor and middle-class families needed a guarantor just to open a bank account, yet under the Congress' phone banking system, thousands of crores of rupees were readily available to the rich. It was this mismanagement that brought India's banking system under the grip of non-performing assets (NPAs), pushing it to the brink of ruin," he alleged.

PM Modi also highlighted the achievements of various measures and schemes being implemented by the Union government in the country to ensure easy and hassle-free access of banking services to the poor, downtrodden sections of the society.

Emphasising the need to strengthen banking security and efficiency, the Prime Minister said, "Friends, the past decade was about taking banking services to those who had been deprived of them. The coming decade is about making banking more efficient and trustworthy. The new data centre in Odisha is also going to play a major role in this. To keep the banking system secure, we must also protect its digital infrastructure. This requires strong data centres and robust computing systems."

He added that as cyber threats continue to evolve, tackling new challenges requires modern infrastructure, updated training systems and tools, and skilled human resources, making the new Cybersecurity Training Institute particularly significant.

--IANS

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