Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation through his Mann Ki Baat radio show. This time, he spoke about Indian participation in Olympics, vaccine hesitancy, rainwater harvesting and more.
Here are the updates:
Independence Day
August 15th is approaching. The struggle for independence is the story who gave their lives for the country. Post independence it should be the story of those who spent their lives for their country.
We have come up with some ways to mark 75 years of independence.
Please associate yourself with this Amrit Mahotsav, says the PM.
On that note, the Prime Minister ends his speech wising people good health.
e-book on Modi's love for Tamil
Mr. Modi refers to Guruprasad from Chennai who has commended PM on his respectful references to Tamil culture and people.
Guruprasad has compiled an e book on such references..
PM asks him to add another line which he speaks in Tamil. Translation- “I respect Tamil language and culture. I take pride in the fact that Tamil is one of our great ancient languages”.
He also says the e-book will be uploaded in NaMo app.
During the pandemic everyone has played a part, says Mr. Modi.
You may have heard of Government of India secretary Guruprasad Mohanty who recently passed away despite being in hospital himself tried day and night to fulfill the demand for oxygen in the country during the second wave.
Unfortunately we lost him and many others . We owe it to him and many like him that we observe Corona protocol and get vaccinated.
In a few days, on July 1st we will mark Doctor’s day to commemorate the memory of Dr B C Roy. In the time of COVID19 doctors are important, says the Prime Minister.
He gives example of Srinagar’s boat ambulance started by a local doctor.
On July 1st we also mark Chartered Accountants day. A few years ago I had asked them for a gift of coming up with a world class auditing system, I want to remind them of that, he says.
Our shastras say that there is no plant that doesn’t have certain healing qualities, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He refers to a letter from Paritosh on the benefits of Giloi.
Ramlotan Kushwaha of Satna in MP has made a desi museum at his home preserving plant species and seeds.
Mr. Modi speaks on rainwater harvesting.
Monsoon season is upon us. Harvesting rainwater is another way of serving ones country, he says.
Sachidananda Bharti in Uttarakhand has worked in this field and helped end water scarcity in his area in Pauri Garhwal by helping build small and big ponds. He has built 30000 such ponds, his Bhagirath effort will be remembered.
In Banda in UP too people have done much work, he says.
We should not miss this crucial monsoon season.
Fighting COVID in rural areas
Mr. Modi now speaks to Kishorilal Dhurve, who also talks of negative attitudes towards vaccine. He says the area is a tribal belt where people have been scared of all the rumours.
PM Modi says Corona is a bahurupiya (shapeshifter) and there along with protocols of masking , social distance, vaccine is important. "Please don’t pay heed to rumours. We must trust science and our scientists who worked day and night to develop the vaccines," he tells Kishorilal.
"My best wishes to your village and ask them to get vaccinated and involve the women of the village," Mr. Modi says.
In the future, it will be a matter of study how our rural brothers and sisters dealt with Corona. They made isolation centres, treatment centres, kept farming on track. We have to do the same in the vaccination campaign, he says.
Vaccine hesitancy
Let’s go to a village - Dularia in Betul district in Madhya Pradesh. There are 462 men, 332 women in the village.
Rajesh from the village comes on the call. Rajesh says there is hesitancy in his village due to certain Whatsapp forwards.
PM Modi tells him that 31 crore people have been vaccinated , he and his mother who is close to being centenarian has also got both doses. He advises Rajesh to get vaccinated and get others to take the vaccine.
Mr. Modi says in many villages people have taken vaccine. He cites the example of Bandipora district where a village has 100% coverage.
Rajesh says he will take the jab soon.
Our fight against COVID is on but we are also combating it on mission mode, says Mr. Modi.
On June 21 we made a record of vaccinating 86 lakh people in a single day.
A year ago the question was when will vaccines be available now we are vaccinating lakhs for free. However, We have to end vaccine hesitancy, he says.
Humble beginnings of ace athletes
Most sports champions in our country come from modest backgrounds but with perseverance have brought glory to the country, says the Prime Minister.
He mentions Praveen Jadhav, and archer Dipika Kumari. Deepika's father is a n autorickshaw driver.
"We wish all our champions well."
However high we go, we are always rooted to our beginnings. Athlete Priyanka Goswami’s example, he says.
He speaks about Javelin thrower Shivpal Singh from Varanasi.
"Chirag Shetty and Sattwik have qualified. Sattwik suffered from COVID, and Chirag lost his grandfather to the pandemic but they have persevered," he says.
He mentions about the humble beginnings of fender Bhavani from Tamil Nadu.
Each athlete going to Tokyo has a story of struggle and they are representing the country. Therefore we must not create undue pressure on our athletes, he says.
#CheerForIndia hashtag can be used on social media to support them.
Remembering Milkha Singh
When we speak of Olympics who can forget the legendary Milkha Singh, says the Prime Minister recalling the legendary athlete who succumbed to COVID-19 recently.
"We lost him a few days ago. But I had the fortune of speaking to him before he passed away, when I told him that he had led the Indian contingent in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic and he should encourage the current crop." He agreed but unfortunately we lost him before that, he says.
Milkha Singhji’s entire family is devoted to sports.
My fellow Indians, often I get a lot of questions on Mann Ki Baat , this time I shall ask questions.
Who won the first Indian to win the first medal in Olympic, in which sport did india get most medals?
Even if u don’t answer my questions do log into a quiz in MyGov and participate. It’s called the “road to Tokyo”.
