Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs to undertake various programmes as part of the "Samajik Nyaya Pakhwada" (social justice fortnight) to mark the party's founding on April 6 for a fortnight going ahead. He also said that the contribution of all Prime Ministers of India since Independence is important and that it must be recognised, noting the museum dedicated to Prime Ministers at the Nehru Memorial and Museum Library complex at Teen Murti Bhawan will do so. The musuem will be inaugurated on April 14.
BJP MPs also felicitated Mr. Modi with a standing ovation for having extended the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) of free grain distribution to the poor for another six months.
Addressing the BJP's parliamentary party meeting, Mr. Modi said that the party was perhaps the only ruling party that has recognised the contributions of every Prime Minister to have served India by honouring them by building a museum.
"He said we are the only ones to have acknowledged former Prime Ministers' contributions, irrespective of the party they came from," a BJP MP who attended the meeting said. Mr. Modi noted that his address from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15, 2021 had lauded their contributions.
"This is essentially democratisation of national recognition and articulation of popular gratitude towards all of our former Prime Ministers," BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said.
That the museum is being inaugurated on late Bhimrao Ambedkar's birth anniversary is a recognition of the democratic architecture he bequeathed to the country, another party leader said, referring to Mr. Modi's speech.
With the birth anniversary of B. R. Ambedkar, architect of the Indian Constitution, falling on April 14, Mr. Modi asked party MPs to reach out to people, especially disadvantaged sections of society like Scheduled Castes, to highlight various government programmes for their welfare.
Briefing the media after the meet, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that Mr. Modi asked parliamentarians to work to spread awareness about the Central government's welfare schemes for housing, nutrition and free grains, among others.
In his speech Mr. Modi also noted that the birth anniversary of noted social reformer Jyotirao Phule falls on April 11. He urged MPs, including Ministers, to visit aspirational districts, a term for underdeveloped districts, and hold programmes there, during the Samajik Nayay Pakhwada, with different activities, including utilising Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) funds for building ponds, to mark the celebration of 75 years of India's independence as the "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav".
An exhibition on the movement for India's Independence was also held at Ambedkar International Centre, the meeting's venue, where the Prime Minister arrived earlier than its scheduled beginning.
