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Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the countrymen in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on 28 July, 2019. In his address the PM said, “I touched upon the subject of water conservation in last Mann Ki Baat and you will be happy to know that Meghalaya has become the first state to have formulated its own water-policy”. He congratulated the scientists for successful launch of Chandrayaan II mission and said it will inspire our youth towards Science & Innovation. We are publishing the excerpts for our esteemed readers;
My dear countrymen, Namaskar. As usual, you and I eagerly keep waiting for ‘Mann Ki Baat’. This time too, numerous letters, comments & phone calls have poured in – full of stories, suggestions & inspiration – everybody wants to do something or the other; also wanting to say it out. One can feel that sentiment.
Friends, I touched upon the subject of water conservation in Mann Ki Baat and I feel that it was an issue close to your heart even before I referred to it, a matter of universal human interest. People have shared information on traditional methods. And you will be happy to know that the beautiful North Eastern State of Meghalaya has become the first state to have formulated its own water-policy. I congratulate the Government of Meghalaya.
In Haryana, crops that require meagre water are being encouraged. Farmers thus are saved from suffering losses. I specially congratulate the Haryana Government for establishing a connect with the farmers to wean them away from conventional modes of farming towards crops that do not require much water.
Actually, this month, the World Children’s Winners Games were held in Moscow. It is a unique sports tournament meant for young cancer survivors; only they who have emerged fighting cancer, can take part. In this tournament, sports & games such as shooting, chess, swimming, running, football & table-tennis are organized. All Ten champions of our country won medals in this tournament. Out of these, some players even won more than one medal.
I firmly believe that you must have felt immensely proud on India’s achievement beyond the skies… in outer space… Chandrayaan II. In fact, in the realms of Space, 2019 has been a very fruitful year for India. Our scientists launched the A-Sat in March. After that, amidst the hectic engagements during Elections, an important development such as the A-Sat could not be a prominent part of the discourse.
Whereas the fact is, through the A-Sat, we have acquired the capability of destroying a satellite three hundred Kilometres away in a mere three minutes. India became the fourth country in the world, possessing this capacity. And now, on the 22nd of July, the nation watched with pride Chandrayaan II taking strides into space from Sriharikota. Visuals of Chandrayaan II lifting off filled our countrymen’s hearts with glory, zest and joy.
Chandrayaan II is a mission that is special on many counts. It will lead to a better understanding of the Moon on our part. We will be able to gather detailed information & knowledge. But if you ask me what the two greatest lessons I have received from Chandrayaan II, I shall say they are Faith & Fearlessness. We should trust our talents & capacities; we should have faith in them. You will be glad to know that Chandrayaan II is INDIAN to the core. It is thoroughly Indian in heart & spirit. It is completely a swadeshi, home grown mission.
My dear countrymen, you must have observed one thing. Our chain of Mann Ki Baat has lent pace to the cleanliness campaign from time to time. Similarly, efforts towards ensuring cleanliness have always inspired Mann Ki Baat. A journey that began five years ago gathered momentum with mass participation & is now setting up newer benchmarks in cleanliness & sanitation. It is not that we have reached the ideal yet, but the way we have achieved success in ODF & clean public spaces, it displays the collective will & strength of the resolve of a hundred & thirty crore countrymen. But we are not stopping at that. This movement has now advanced from cleanliness towards beautification.
A few days ago, I read a very interesting comment on My gov. This comment came from Brother Muhammad Aslam who stays in Shopian, Jammu & Kashmir. He wrote, “I like listening to the programme Mann Ki Baat. I am happy to let you know that I played a positive active role in organizing the community mobilisation programme- Back to Village in my state Jammu & Kashmir. This programme was organized in the month of June. I feel such programmes should be organized every quarter. Simultaneously, there should be a provision for online monitoring too. According to me, this was a one of a kind programme where the public directly entered into a dialogue with the Government.
The people of Kashmir are eager to join the national main stream, their enthusiasm is reflected in the mechanism of this programme. For the first time, senior officials reached the villages, directly, even those officials who had never visited a village were available to the villagers at their doorsteps, to judge for themselves to gauge the obstacles in the path of progress and to remove the hurdles.
This week long programme encompassing about 4500 panchayats witnessed the govt. officials briefing the villagers about the schemes and programmes implemented by the Government and also inquired whether these facilities were available to them or not. How to impart more might to the Panchayats? How to increase their income? And how the facilities rendered by panchayats can affect the day to day life, were topics that were discussed and people too interacted in a participatory fashion telling about their problems. Literacy, sex ratio, health, hygiene, water conservation, electricity, water, Girl education, senior citizen’s concerns etc. were some of the topics that were discussed at length.