Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens on October 31 to strive to make India a developed nation by 2047 when the country completes 100 years of independence.
“We will have to fulfil the resolve we took, the promises we made to the coming generation”, the Prime Minister said urging citizens to intensify efforts. “The contribution of every Indian is important to achieve the goal of being a developed country”, he said at an event to mark the conclusion of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, a celebration of 75 years of India’s independence.
Platform for youth
Launching a special platform for the youth called ‘MY Bharat’, Mr Modi said various programs that are being run for youth will be made available on this platform.
He asked the youth to connect with it as much as possible and fill India with new energy. “MY Bharat organisation is going to play a big role in nation-building in the 21st century”, he added.
The prime minister was addressing people from across the country who had carried around 8500 urns containing soil from their respective villages and cities as part of the ‘Meri Mati Mera Desh’ campaign. He inaugurated a memorial garden called ‘Amrit Vatika’ which will be built using this soil which was poured into a giant pitcher.
The soil from this pitcher would be use to create the garden which is being built next to India Gate and for which an area of 12,000 sqm has been earmarked. The site will be ready for visitors in the next four to six months. It will be situated adjacent to the Netaji Bose statue under the Grand Canopy and the National War Memorial.
Reigniting the flame
Drawing an analogy between the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi march, he said: “Dandi March reignited the flame of independence while Amrit Kaal is turning out to be the resolution of the 75-year-old journey of India’s development journey”.
Mr Modi noted that he was India’s first prime minister who was born after independence and ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ helped him understand many aspects of the freedom struggle. “It has reminded people that there was not a single moment during foreign rule when there was no movement for freedom and no section or region was untouched by these movements”.
The PM said that during the celebration, India achieved many things-- becoming one of the top 5 economies in the world, successfully landing Chandrayaan 3, organising the G20 Summit and bagging more than 100 medals at the Asian Games.
He said the country also had many other achievements such as combating the Covid-19 pandemic, a new Parliament building and passage of the women’s reservation bill. “We also completed the journey from Rajpath to Kartavya Path. We removed numerous symbols of slavery and Subhas Chandra Bose’s statue was installed on Kartavya path”.
