Ram Nath Kovind Says Inclusion Has Become Central to India's Development Story

Former President Ram Nath Kovind has highlighted the expansion of social and economic inclusion as a key feature of the Narendra Modi government, arguing that communities and regions that were historically left on the edges of India’s development story are now receiving greater attention. In an opinion article published by Hindustan Times on September 17, Kovind wrote that the lasting significance of the Modi era should be viewed through the expansion of what he described as the Indian mainstream. He linked this change to efforts aimed at reaching people and communities that, according to him, had remained underserved by governance for decades.

Kovind, who served as President between 2017 and 2022, said the approach was visible in a range of government programmes and infrastructure projects. Rather than focusing on a single scheme or reform, he presented inclusion across different regions and sections of society as a broader governance objective. The Northeast was one of the main examples cited in the article. Kovind said the region, which was frequently viewed as geographically distant from India's economic centres, has increasingly been presented as a gateway to Southeast Asia. He pointed to improvements in transport links, infrastructure, investment and peace initiatives as signs of the changing approach.

Among the projects mentioned were the Bogibeel Bridge and the Sela Tunnel, both of which have improved connectivity in difficult terrain. He also referred to the Bairabi-Sairang railway line in Mizoram, the first direct rail connection linking the state capital Aizawl with the wider Indian railway network, as well as the development of AIIMS Guwahati. He further pointed to the semiconductor manufacturing facility in Assam as an example of high-technology investment reaching the Northeast.

The former President also focused on remote settlements along India's international borders. He noted that the government's terminology has increasingly shifted from describing such locations as the country's "last villages" to calling them "first villages". The change, he argued, reflects a wider policy effort to improve roads, connectivity, livelihoods and basic services in border areas.

The Vibrant Villages Programme is part of that effort, while the Aspirational Districts Programme seeks to improve development outcomes in districts that have historically performed poorly across indicators such as health, education and infrastructure. Kovind also mentioned the Aspirational Blocks Programme, which extends the model to smaller administrative units.

Tribal communities were another major focus of the article. Kovind referred to programmes targeting Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups and other tribal populations, including the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan, or PM-JANMAN. The programme is designed to improve access to essential services and infrastructure for 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups across the country, with areas such as housing, drinking water, roads, healthcare and connectivity among its priorities.

Financial inclusion, according to Kovind, has also helped broaden access to formal economic systems. He pointed to the expansion of Jan Dhan bank accounts and Direct Benefit Transfer as important elements of the government's strategy to connect previously underserved households with banking services and welfare payments. The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana has now crossed 59 crore beneficiaries, according to government data.

The article also highlighted programmes covering electricity, cooking fuel and tap-water access. Kovind cited Saubhagya, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission as examples of schemes intended to extend basic services to households that previously had limited or no access to them. Women’s economic participation formed another part of his argument. Kovind pointed to initiatives such as MUDRA, PM SVANidhi and the Lakhpati Didi programme, saying that the policy focus has increasingly moved beyond viewing women only as recipients of welfare and towards encouraging entrepreneurship, income generation and greater economic participation.

The larger message of the former President's article is that development should not be limited to major cities or traditionally stronger regions. Instead, he argues, national growth becomes broader when remote communities, tribal populations, women, border residents and financially excluded households are able to participate in it.

Kovind's article comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi marks his birthday and looks ahead to the government's longer-term vision of a developed India by 2047. While the article presents the government's record from a supportive perspective, the effectiveness of individual programmes ultimately depends on implementation, access, regional differences and measurable outcomes on the ground.

The debate over India's development model is therefore likely to increasingly centre not only on headline economic growth, but also on how evenly the benefits of that growth reach different parts of society. The central transformation is a change in how the country's development map is viewed: communities once regarded as peripheral are increasingly being brought into the centre of policy attention.