Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his periodic radio address on Sunday morning assured the people of Nepal of India’s full support in rescue, relief and rehabilitation of victims of the earthquake on Saturday. “Nepal’s grief is our grief,” Mr Modi said in the seventh episode of the radio programme Mann Ki Baat .
“I saw the Bhuj earthquake of January 26, 2001, very closely,” he said, adding that the earthquake with its epicentre in Nepal that also caused devastation in India on Saturday had “shaken up the entire world.”
Mr Modi opened his 15 minute pre-scheduled address by saying he was speaking with a heavy heart in wake of the devastation.
The address provided a wrap of events since his last address on March 22 and his foreign trips. “Indian evacuation efforts in Yemen were lauded by all because we rescued people from 48 countries,” Mr Modi said. “I am sure the efforts will leave an indelible mark in history.”
Mr Modi said the government had decided to grant land for two memorials – one in Mumbai and another in New Delhi -- dedicated to BR Ambedkar, putting an end “in less than 20 months to an issue pending for over 20 years.”
While the government is celebrating Dr Ambedkar’s 125th year of birth, Mr Modi said while the government would make efforts the society must cooperate to end manual scavenging. “We need to get rid of this blemish,” he said. He also spoke on the need for educating children as a means of changing social status. “Babasaheb kept saying get an education,” Mr Modi said.
