The 125th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio address, Mann ki Baat, began with the recent floods and landslides that hit some parts of the country, and acknowledging the role of the security forces in the rescue efforts. He mentioned the use of technologies such as thermal cameras, life detectors, sniffer dogs, and drone surveillance that helped during the crucial period.
He said: “During the last few weeks, we have witnessed grave devastation caused by floods and landslides. At places, homes were destroyed; at others, fields were submerged; families were ruined en masse; elsewhere, bridges were swept away amid the strong flow of water; roads were washed away; people’s lives were enmeshed in danger. These incidents have saddened every Indian. The pain of the families who lost their loved ones is our shared pain?”
During the address, the Prime Minister also announced the launch of Pratibha Setu, a digital platform set up by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) that could be used by companies to hire talented youth. Pratibha Setu, the PM said, is a database of candidates who cleared different stages of the UPSC examination but could not make it to the final merit list.
The PM said, “There are thousands of such candidates who are very capable; their hard work is no less than anyone else’s, but they are unable to reach the final list by a small margin. These candidates have to prepare afresh for other exams. That cost both their time and money… There is a databank of over 10,000 such bright youngsters on this portal. Through this portal, private companies can obtain information on these promising students and employ them.”
He also mentioned the sports initiatives and achievements of the country, beginning with the description of a day-night cricket match that was enjoyed by a record number of people in Pulwama.
He then mentioned the Khelo India Water Sports Festival in Srinagar’s Dal Lake, where 800 athletes from across the country participated from August 21 to 23. “Special congratulations to Madhya Pradesh, which won the maximum number of medals, followed by Haryana and Odisha,” he said. He then interacted with two of the athletes, Rashmita Sahu from Odisha and Mohsin Ali from Srinagar.
The PM congratulated Sahu’s family for encouraging their daughter to get into sports amidst many difficulties. And, when Ali said his dream was to win an Olympic medal, the PM said that when the son of a labourer can dream so big, it means the country is going to progress. He also thanked Ali’s father for working hard to give him this life and Ali for working hard for 10 years on his sport.
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Another story from the sports world that the PM mentioned during the radio show was that of the young football players from Shahdol. He said that he had raised the topic on a podcast with Lex Fridman, which was heard by German football player and coach Dietmar Beiersdorfer. He was so impressed by the journey of these young football players that he offered to train some of the players in an academy in Germany.
“I urge football lovers to visit Shahdol whenever they get time and witness the sporting revolution happening there closely,” the PM said.
The Prime Minister also noted unique initiatives by Surat’s Jitendra Singh Rathore, who has created an archive of information on the martyred soldiers, and Muzaffarpur’s Devki, known for her solar pump initiative. Rathore has also collected soil from beneath the feet of the parents of about 2,500 martyrs. Devki, fondly called Solar Didi, was able to ensure better irrigation in her village. The PM said, “Whereas earlier, only a few acres of land could be irrigated; now water is reaching more than 40 acres of land through Solar Didi’s solar pump”.
He said that September will see celebrations of Engineer’s Day on the birthday of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, Vishwakarma Jayanti, and Hyderabad Liberation Day, when the city was taken over from the Nizams through Operation Polo.
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PM Modi ended his address with mentions of the influence of Indian culture across the world — the Maharshi Valmiki statue set up in Italy’s Camp-Rotondo, a 51-feet-tall statue of Lord Ram in Canada’s Mississauga, and an exhibition of paintings by Russian children on the themes of Ramayana in Russia’s Vladivostok.
