Blitz Bureau
IN the 114th episode of his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat, broadcast on September 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged people to buy Made in India products during the festive season.
He also reflected on the 10-year anniversary of his radio show, highlighted the importance of water conservation, spoke on the popularity of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, change in the nature of jobs, and shared a success story from Madhya Pradesh. The following are the excerpts from August 25 Mann ki Baat: My dear countrymen, Namaskar.
Once again we have the opportunity to connect in today’s Mann Ki Baat. This episode today is going to make me emotional. It’s flooding me with a lot of old memories… The reason is that this journey of ours in Mann Ki Baat is completing 10 years. 10 years ago Mann Ki Baat started on the day of Vijayadashami on the 3rd of October. And what a divine coincidence it is that this year on the 3rd of October when 10 years of Mann Ki Baat are completed, it will be the first day of Navratri. There are many phases in this long journey of Mann Ki Baat that I can never forget…
My dear countrymen, for the last few weeks it has been raining heavily in different parts of the country. This rainy season reminds us how important ‘water conservation’ is… how important it is to save water. Water saved during rainy days helps a lot during water scarcity months, and that’s the spirit of campaigns like Catch The Rain. I am happy that many people are taking new initiatives to conserve water. One such effort has been witnessed in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
Friends, today it is the success of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ that the Waste to Wealth’ mantra is becoming popular among people. People have started talking about Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, citing their examples as well. Like I just came to know about a great effort in Kozhikode, Kerala. Here, Seventy-four years old Subramanian ji has repaired more than 23,000 chairs and thus made them re-usable again. People also call him ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’, that is, RRR, (Triple R) Champion. His unique efforts can also be seen at the offices of Kozhikode Civil Station, PWD & LIC.
My dear countrymen, we are all very proud of our heritage. And I always say ‘Development as well as Heritage’. That is why I am getting a lot of messages about a particular aspect of my recent visit to the US. Once again, there is a lot of discussion about the return of our ancient artefacts. I can understand your feelings about this and I would also like to tell the listeners of Mann Ki Baat about it.
Friends, during my visit to the US, the US Government has returned around 300 ancient artefacts to India. US President Biden, very affectionately, showed me some of these artefacts in his private residence at Delaware…
In these changing times, the nature of Jobs is changing and new sectors are emerging… such as gaming, animation, reel-making, filmmaking or poster-making. If you can perform well in any of these skills… your talent can get a very big platform… if you are a part of a band or working for a Community Radio, then also there is a huge opportunity for you.
In order to promote your talent and creativity, The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India has started 25 challenges under the theme, ‘Create in India’. You will surely find these challenges interesting. Some challenges even focus on music, education and even on anti-piracy. There are many professional organisations associated with this objective and our providing full support to these challenges. In order to participate, you can log in to wavesindia. org. I specially urge the creators in the country to ensure participation and bring their creativity to the fore…
This month marks the culmination of 10 years of another important campaign. The success of this campaign includes the contribution of the country’s big industries as well as small shopkeepers. I am talking about ‘Make in India’. Today, it gives me immense joy to see that the poor, the middle class and MSMEs are getting a lot of benefit from this campaign. This campaign has provided an opportunity to people of every class to showcase their talent. Today, India has become a manufacturing powerhouse and it is because of the youth power of the country that the whole world is looking up to us.
Be it automobiles, textiles, aviation, electronics or defence… every sector in the country’s exports are constantly on the rise. The continual rise of FDI in the country is narrating the success saga of Make In India. Now we are mainly focussing on two things… The first is ‘Quality’, that is, goods made in our country should be of global standards… and the other is ‘Vocal for Local. That means, local products should get maximum promotion…
Friends, in this festive season you can once again reiterate your old resolves. Anything you buy, should necessarily be ‘Made in India’… Anything you gift that too should be Made In India. Merely buying earthen lamps is not ‘Vocal for Local’…
