Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that with changing times, the nature of jobs was also changing and new sectors, including gaming, animation, reel- and film-making were emerging. He encouraged people to participate in the 25 challenges under the ‘Create in India’ theme launched recently by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to promote talent and creativity.
“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 community radio, then too there is a huge opportunity for you,” Mr. Modi said in his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio programme.
He said that some of the ‘Create in India’ challenges focussed on music, education, and even on anti-piracy. “There are many professional organisations associated with this objective and are 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,” the PM said.
Describing the episode as an emotional one for him, Mr. Modi said ‘Mann Ki Baat’ would be completing 10 years on October 3, the first day of Navratri. He said the programme had proved how hungry the people of the country were for positive information.
The Prime Minister said that September 2024 also marked 10 years of the ‘Make in India’ campaign that benefited the poor, the middle-class and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), turning India into a manufacturing powerhouse. The country had also seen a spike in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows, he said.
India was now mainly focussing on the quality of goods and ‘Vocal for Local’ products, he said, citing an initiative in Maharashtra’s Bhandara, where over 50 self-help groups comprising a large number of women were working to preserve the old textile tradition of Bhandara tussar silk handloom. He urged people to promote and buy local products during the forthcoming festive season.
Speaking of the rainy season, the Prime Minister stressed on water conservation and highlighted the initiatives of people in Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh), where some women revived had the Ghurari river; in Raipura village of Dindori (Madhya Pradesh), where the construction of a large pond had raised the groundwater level and women volunteers had also started a fish parlour; and in Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh), where women had rejuvenated a big pond.
Mr. Modi also talked spoke of the cleanliness drives in the border Jhala village of Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand. In Puducherry, Ms. Ramya is leading a team of youth from the Mahe Municipality and its vicinity for cleaning the area, especially near the beaches, he said. “Just a few days later, on October 2, the Swachh Bharat Mission is completing 10 years. This is an occasion to commend those who turned it into such a big mass movement in Indian history. It is also a befitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi,” he said.
On the ‘Waste to Wealth’ campaign, the Prime Minister commended the efforts of 74-year-old Subramanian, who has repaired over 23,000 chairs and made them re-usable, in Kerala’s Kozhikode.
About his recent visit to the United States, Mr. Modi said the American government had returned about 300 ancient Indian artefacts. The artefacts included vases, terracotta plaques of gods and goddesses, statues of Jain Tirthankaras, Bhagwan Buddha, and Bhagwan Shri Krishna, bronze idols of Bhagwan Ganesha from southern India, and a large number of images of Bhagwan Vishnu. President Biden had showed to him some artefacts at his private residence in Delaware, many of which were 4,000 years old, he said.
Emphasising the value of the mother tongue, Mr. Modi talked about a campaign to give a new identity to Santhali, a language spoken by tribal communities in several States and also in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, with the help of digital innovation. “Shriman Ramjeet Tudu, resident of Mayurbhanj (Odisha)...has prepared a digital platform where literature related to the Santhali language can be read and written in the Santhali language,” Mr. Modi said.
The Prime Minister also expressed happiness over the success of plantation drives in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. Under the campaign, over 26 crore saplings had been planted in U.P.; over 15 crore in Gujarat; and over six crore saplings planted in Rajasthan in August alone.
He appreciated the contributions of K.N. Rajasekhar from Telangana and Subhashri from Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Ms. Subhashri has created a garden of about 500 rare and useful medicinal plants. She started the work in the 1980s after her father, bitten by a poisonous snake, recovered to quite an extent due to traditional herbs. During the COVID pandemic, she had made immunity boosting herbs available to the people, Mr. Modi said.
Published - September 29, 2024 12:24 pm IST
