India needs to accelerate pace of its development in the new year and will not allow the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic to dampen the growth process, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.
He stressed that the country will continue to fight the pandemic with "full caution and vigilance", and also take care of the national interest.
Speaking at the release of 10th instalment under the PM-KISAN scheme, PM Modi reeled out the achievements of the country during the pandemic-hit 2021 across sectors, like health, defence, agriculture, startup ecosystem and infrastructure.
"2021 will be remembered for India's strong fight against the Covid-19 pandemic as also for reforms undertaken during the year," PM Modi said, and lauded the achieving of more than 145 crore Covid vaccine doses.
He said in the year gone by, India accelerated the speed of reforms in various sectors, and also created modern infrastructure.
"We have to further accelerate the pace of development. Corona poses challenges, but it cannot stall the growth process," the Prime Minister added.