PM’s address in ‘Mann Ki Baat 2.0’ Programme on All India Radio – 30 June, 2019

PM’s address in ‘Mann Ki Baat 2.0’ Programme on All India Radio – 30 June, 2019

 

My dear countrymen Namaskar. After a rather long pause, we are resuming once again, our series of touching upon matters close to people and their hearts; in fact subjects close to every person’s heart… I am once again amidst you with our ‘Mann Ki Baat’. The rigours of Elections called for hectic preoccupation, but the one thing that was missing was the sheer joy of ‘Mann Ki Baat.’ For me, it was like experiencing a kind of void. It used to be a chat in a genial atmosphere amidst the warmth of one’s own family of 130 crore countrymen; we would listen, we would re-iterate; at times our expressions would turn into an inspiration for someone close to us. You can imagine how this period must have made one feel. Sunday, the last Sunday, at 11 o’clock, even I used to be uneasy, with a nagging feeling of a kind of emptiness… you too felt the same, didn’t you? I am sure you did. Perhaps, this was not a lifeless programme. It was full of liveliness, warmth and fondness. And that is why, for me the intervening period was very difficult to bear. I used to miss something every moment; when I express myself through ‘Mann Ki Baat,’ the one speaking is me, the words are mine, the voice is mine, but the story is yours, the ‘Purusharth’ pertaining to your pursuits and goals is yours, the ‘Parakram’, the achievement is yours. I just used my words and my voice and that is why, I was not missing the programme… I was missing you. I was undergoing a bout of emptiness. There came a moment when I felt the need to reach out to you immediately after the Elections concluded. Then I thought… No! The established Sunday sequence should be maintained. But this Sunday has made one wait endlessly! Anyway, finally the opportunity has dawned. In a family like atmosphere, these plain, simple reflections become the reason for change in life, in society. Begetting a new spirit, in a way fortifying the spirit of New India, let us wish this endeavour embarks upon its onward journey.

 

Over the last few months, many messages have poured in, with people stating that they have been missing ‘Mann Ki Baat’. When I read them, when I hear them, it gives me joy. It’s a warm feeling of kinship. There are times when I feel that this is my journey from the self to the unabridged whole; my journey from ‘I’ to ‘We’. For me, this nonvocal conversation with you was a part of my feelings during my spiritual journey. Amidst hectic Election engagements, many people asked me a flurry of questions on why I had gone up to Kedarnath. You have every right; I can understand your curiosity… and I too feel that my sentiments reach you. But today, I think, if I change the course of the conversation that way, the entire complexion of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ will change. Amidst the rigours of the Election, speculations on victory or defeat, before the polling was yet to start; I undertook the journey. Most people have derived political conclusions out of that. For me, it was an opportunity to meet myself. In a way, I undertook the journey to meet my inner self. I shall not reveal other things today, but I certainly want to tell you that perhaps in that solitary cave, I got an opportunity to fill up the vacuum caused due to the long pause that ‘Mann Ki Baat’ had to go through. The rest is your inquisitiveness… I think, someday I’ll talk about that too. WHEN, I can’t say, but I’ll do it for sure. You have every right as far as I am concerned. The way people have expressed their wish to know about Kedar, I feel a similar effort on your part to lay emphasis on positive things, which I get to know through your expressions.

 

The letters which steadily pour in for ‘Mann Ki Baat’, the inputs that are received are entirely different from routine Government matters. One way, a letter from you can act as a source of inspiration for me; on the other it may turn out to be a source of energy for me. There are times when some of your words act as a catalyst in sharpening my thought process. People bring to the fore challenges facing the country and society; they also come out with solutions for the same. I have seen for myself that in their letters, people go to great lengths in describing their problems; it is fascinating to see that in the same breath, they express directly or indirectly, a relevant solution or two, one suggestion or the other, or even an idea! If someone refers to sanitation and cleanliness, he or she invariably voices angst against filth & dirt, but on the same page appreciates efforts being under way to ensure cleanliness. When somebody talks about the environment, one can easily sense his or her crucial concerns on the matter; at the same time, experiments that the person has attempted or seen also come to the surface, with vivid descriptions of new ideas on the issue. This means, I can closely get a fair idea of your point, in terms of extrapolating a solution to a certain problem on a society- wide scale. ‘Mann Ki Baat’is like a mirror to the country & our society. It conveys to us that there is no dearth of inner fortitude, strength & talent within our countrymen. The need of the hour is to synergise those strengths and talents, to provide opportunities, to implement them. ‘Mann Ki Baat’ also tells us that a 130 crore countrymen wish to be, strongly and actively, a part of the nation’s progress. I receive a lot of letters and phone calls in ‘Mann Ki Baat’, but the element of complaint is negligible and I would like to tell you that in the last five years, I have not come across a single instance where somebody has asked for something for personal gain. Just imagine… a person writing to the Prime Minister of the country, but seeking nothing for one’s own self… it is a reflection on the lofty collective demeanour of crores of people in the country. When I analyse this, you can visualise how heartening it must be for me, what a source of energy it is for me. You possibly don’t know that you are the ones who make me walk, who make me run and keep me full of life and zest… this is the very bond that I used to miss. My heart is filled to the brim with joy today. When it was about to end, I had stated that we would meet once again after 3 or 4 months, people assigned a political hue to it, saying ‘Hey, Modi ji is so full of confidence, he is certain!’

 

The confidence was not Modi’s. This trust was the trust of your foundation. You were the ones who transformed yourself into a pillar of trust. And that is why in the last episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’, then, I effortlessly said that I would be back after a few months. Actually speaking, I have not RETURNED; you brought me back, you positioned me here and gave me the opportunity to speak once again. With this sentiment, come, let’s take ‘Mann Ki Baat’ forward.

 

When Emergency was imposed on the country, resistance against it was not limited to the political arena or politicians; the movement was not curtailed to the confines of prison cells. There was an outrage in the conscience of one and all. The collective torment on the loss of democracy was evident. Day and night, when one gets to eat food on time, one doesn’t realize what hunger pangs are. Similarly, in day to day life, it is difficult to savour the joy of democratic rights, unless they are snatched away. During Emergency, every citizen of the country had started getting the feeling that something that belonged to him had been snatched away. If what was snatched had never been enjoyed by that person, ever, it had to eventually precipitate into a painful inner agony. And it was not just on account of the fact that the constitution of India has made certain provisions that enabled Democracy to blossom. Of course, in order to ensure smooth conduct of the social order, a constitution is required… laws & rules are necessary, rights and duties should be part of due discourse. But, India can proudly proclaim that for us, beyond laws & rules, Democracy is embedded in our sanskar; Democracy is our culture. Democracy is our heritage; we grew up, nurturing ourselves on the fruits of that very heritage. And that is why the lack of it can be felt deeply by our countrymen, which is what we underwent during Emergency. And precisely for that, the country sacrificed one full Election, not for her own sake, but for the sake of protecting democracy. Perhaps, nowhere else in the world had citizens voted, without bothering about other rights & requirements, just for the sake of saving democracy. And the country had witnessed one such Election in ’77. Just recently, our country celebrated a mega festival of democracy, a mammoth Election Campaign, from the rich to the poor, all were happily eager in this festival to decide the fate of their country.

 

When something is in close proximity of us, we tend to underestimate its importance; we ignore even amazing facts about it. We have been blessed with a Democracy so invaluable, yet we take it for granted so easily. But, we must keep reminding ourselves that our Democracy is gloriously great, it flows in our veins, through centuries of Sadhana, dedicated practice, through the sanskar, attributes that have been passed on from generations over, through a collective largeness of the heart. In the 2019 Loksabha Election, India saw over 61 crore voters exercising their franchise… yes 61 crores. We can think of this figure as one ordinary but if I place it in a global perspective, if you exclude China, the number of people who voted in India exceeds the population of any other country in the world. The number of people who voted in the 2019 Lok Sabha Election is more than the entire population of America, close to double the figure. The total number of voters in India exceeds the entire population of Europe. This stands for the sheer size & spread of our Democracy. The 2019 Lok Sabha Election in history by far, was the largest democratic Election ever held in the world. You can imagine the kind of resources and manpower that was required for such a mammoth exercise. Lakhs of teachers, officers & staff strived day & night to make it possible. In order to successfully conclude this ‘Mahayagya’, on the one hand, whereas close to three lakh paramilitary  personnel discharged their duty; on the other, 20 lakh Police personnel of various states too, persevered with due diligence. It is on account of these people that this time voting took place on a larger scale compared to the previous Election. For the voting, there were around 10 lakh polling stations, more than 40 lakh EVM machines, over 17 lakh VVPAT machines… you can imagine the gargantuan task! All this was done, just to ensure that no voter was deprived of his or her voting rights. In a remote area of Arunachal Pradesh, just for a lone woman voter, a polling station was created. You will be amazed to know that it took a journey of two days for personnel of the Election Commission, just to reach there… this is honour to democracy at its best. The world’s highest located polling station too, is in India. At an altitude of 15,000 feet, it is located in the LahaulSpiti region of Himachal Pradesh. Besides this, there is another fact pertaining to these Elections, that swells our hearts with pride. Perhaps, this is the first time ever, that women have enthusiastically voted, as much as men did. This time the ratio of men & women who voted was almost the same. Another encouraging fact is that, today, there are a record 78 women Members of Parliament. I congratulate the Election Commission and every person connected with the electioneering process and salute the aware voters of India.

 

My dear countrymen, you may often have heard me say “No bouquet, just a book”! I had urged all to choose books over flowers in welcome or felicitation ceremonies. Since then, people have been offering books at many a place. Just recently, someone gave me a book entitled ‘Premchand Ki LokapriyaKahaniyan’, popular short stories by Premchand. It was a great feeling. Of course, I couldn’t get much time, but during my travelling, I got an opportunity to read some of his short stories once again. Images of the stark social realities that Premchand has portrayed in his stories vividly start forming in one’s mind when you read them. Each & every element of his writings comes alive. His stories are expressions of human emotions through simple, lucid language… they have touched my heart. His stories embody the collective psyche’, the cumulative being of the country, of the land. While reading one of his stories ‘Nashaa’, I couldn’t help but notice the scourge of economic disparity plaguing society. I was reminded of my younger days… how debates on this subject would carry on through entire nights! The moral of this story featuring the landholder’s son Eeshwari and Beer from a poor family is that if you are not careful enough, you will never know when the bane of bad company engulfs you. The other story that touched the core of my heart was ‘Eidgah’… the sensitivity of a young lad, his unsullied love for his grandmother, such maturity at that early age! When 4-5 years old Hamid comes back to his grandma with a pair of tongs, indeed, it stirs human emotions to their supreme pinnacle. The concluding line of this story makes one very emotional since it holds a vital truth about life, “Young Hamid played the role of aged Hamid – aged Ameena had turned into child Ameena”.

 

Another such poignant story is ‘Poos Ki Raat’. In this story, the living depiction of the paradoxes in a poor farmer’s life is seen. Halku the farmer is happy even after his crops are destroyed by frost, because now he will not be forced to sleep in his fields in the cold winter. Though these stories were written about a century ago but remain relevant all the same even today. After reading these stories, I felt myself to be empathetic.

 

Now that we are conversing about reading, then in some extension of media, I had read about the Akshara Library in Kerala. You will be surprised to learn that this library lies in a village nestling within the dense forests of Idukki. A Primary school teacher, P.K.Muralidharan and P.V.Chinnathampi who runs a small tea shop, have between them worked tirelessly for this library. There was a time when the books were brought here stuffed in sacks and carried on the back. Today this library is a beacon guiding tribal children on a new path.

 

The Vaanche Gujarat campaign carried out in Gujarat was a successful experiment. Participants hailing from every age group in lakhs, participated in this campaign to read books. I will still urge you in today’s digital world and in the time of Google Guru, to take some time out from your daily routine and devote it to the book. You will really enjoy it a lot and do write about whichever book you read on the NarendraModi App so that all the listeners of Mann Ki Baat’ also get to know about it.

 

My dear countrymen, I am happy that the people of our country are thinking about issues, which are posing a challenge not only at the present but also the future. I was reading your comments on NarendraModi App and Mygov and I saw that many people have written a lot about the prevailing water problem. PawanGaurai of Belagavi, Sitanshu Mohan Parida of Bhubaneswar, Yash Sharma, ShahabAltaf and many others have written about the challenges related with water. Water is of great importance in our culture. Rigveda’sApahSuktam says this about water:

 

आपोहिष्ठामयोभुवः, स्थानऊर्जेदधातन, महेरणायचक्षसे,

 

 योवःशिवतमोरसः, तस्यभाजयतेहनः, उषतीरिवमातरः |

 

 Meaning that it is water which is the life force and also, the source of energy. Please bless us like a mother and may your blessings continue on to be showered upon us.

 

Water scarcity affects many parts of the country every year. You will be surprised that only 8% of the water received from rains in the entire year is harvested in our country. Just and just 8%! Now the time has come to find a solution to this problem. I believe, like the other problems on hand, we can also solve this predicament by the participation of the people, Janbhagidari< and>