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मेरे प्यारे देशवासियो, आप सबको नमस्कार। गत वर्ष हमने गर्मी की भयंकर पीड़ा, पानी का अभाव, सूखे की स्थिति, न जाने कितनी-कितनी कसौटियों से गुजरना पड़ा। लेकिन पिछले दो हफ़्ते से, अलग-अलग स्थानों से बारिश की ख़बरें आ रही हैं। बारिश की खबरों के साथ-साथ, एक ताजगी का अहसास भी हो रहा है। आप भी अनुभव करते होंगे और जैसे वैज्ञानिक बता रहे हैं, इस बार वर्षा अच्छी होगी, सर्वदूर होगी और वर्षा ऋतु के पूरे कालखण्ड दरम्यान होगी। ये अपने आप में एक नया उत्साह भरने वाली ख़बरें हैं। मैं सभी किसान भाइयों को भी अच्छी वर्षा ऋतु की बहुत-बहुत शुभकामनायें देता हूँ।

हमारे देश में जैसे किसान मेहनत करता है, हमारे वैज्ञानिक भी देश को नई ऊंचाइयों पर ले जाने के लिए बहुत सफलताएँ प्राप्त कर रहे हैं। और मेरा तो पहले से मत रहा है कि हमारी नई पीढ़ी वैज्ञानिक बनने के सपने देखे, विज्ञान में रूचि ले, आने वाली पीढ़ियों के लिये कुछ कर गुजरने की इच्छा के साथ हमारी युवा पीढ़ी आगे आए। मैं आज और भी एक खुशी की बात आपसे share करना चाहता हूँ। कल मैं पुणे गया था, Smart City Project की वर्षगाँठ के उपलक्ष्य में वहाँ कार्यक्रम था और वहाँ मैंने पुणे के College of Engineering के जिन विद्यार्थियों ने स्वयं की मेहनत से, स्वयं उपग्रह बनाया और जिसे 22 जून को प्रक्षेपित किया गया, उनको मिलने के लिए बुलाया था। क्योंकि मेरा मन करता था कि मैं इन मेरे युवा साथियों को देखूं तो सही! उनको मिलूँ तो सही! उनके भीतर जो ऊर्जा है, उत्साह है, उसका मैं भी तो अनुभव करूँ! पिछले कई वर्षों से अनेक विद्यार्थियों ने इस काम में अपना योगदान दिया। ये academic satellite एक प्रकार से युवा भारत के हौसले की उड़ान का जीता जागता नमूना है। और ये हमारे छात्रों ने बनाया। इन छोटे से satellite के पीछे जो सपने हैं, वो बहुत बड़े हैं। उसकी जो उड़ान है, बहुत ऊँची है और उसकी जो मेहनत है, वो बहुत गहरी है। जैसे पुणे के छात्रों ने किया, वैसे ही तमिलनाडु, चेन्नई की सत्यभामा यूनिवर्सिटी के students द्वारा भी एक satellite बनाया गया और वो SathyabamaSat को भी प्रक्षेपित किया गया। हम तो बचपन से ये बातें सुनते आये हैं और हर बालक के मन में आसमान को छूने और कुछ तारों को मुठ्ठी में कैद करने की ख्वाहिश हमेशा रहती है और इस लिहाज़ से। SRO द्वारा भेजे गये, छात्रों के द्वारा बनाये हुए दोनों satellite मेरी दृष्टि से बहुत अहम् हैं, बेहद ख़ास हैं। ये सभी छात्र बधाई के पात्र हैं। मैं देशवासियों को भी बहुत-बहुत बधाई देना चाहता हूँ कि 22 जून को। SRO के हमारे वैज्ञानिकों ने एक साथ 20 satellite अन्तरिक्ष में भेजकर अपने ही पुराने रेकॉर्डों को तोड़ करके एक नया रिकॉर्ड बना दिया और ये भी खुशी की बात है कि भारत में ये जो 20 satellite launch किये गए, उसमें से 17 satellite अन्य देशों के हैं। अमेरिका सहित कई देशों के satellite launch करने का काम भारत की धरती से, भारत के वैज्ञानिकों के द्वारा हुआ और इनके साथ वही दो satellite , जो हमारे छात्रों ने बनाये थे, वे भी अन्तरिक्ष में पहुँचे। और ये भी विशेषता है कि ISRO ने कम लागत और सफलता की guarantee के चलते दुनिया में ख़ास जगह बना ली है और उसके कारण विश्व के कई देश launching के लिए आज भारत की तरफ़ नज़र कर रहे हैं।

मेरे प्यारे देशवासियो, ‘बेटी बचाओ, बेटी पढ़ाओ’ ये बात अब भारत में जन-जन के मन की बात बन गयी है। लेकिन कुछ घटनायें उसमें एक नई ज़िंदगी ले आती हैं, नये प्राण भर देती हैं। इस बार 10वीं-12वीं की परीक्षाओं के जो नतीजे आये हैं, हमारी बेटियाँ मैदान मार रही हैं और गर्व होता है। और मेरे देशवासियों हम सब गर्व करें, ऐसी एक और महत्वपूर्ण बात – 18 जून को भारतीय वायु सेना में पहली बार first batch of women fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force, भारतीय वायुसेना में महिला लड़ाकू pilot की पहली batch, ये सुनते ही रौंगटे खड़े हो जाते हैं न! कितना गर्व होता है कि हमारे तीन Flying Officer बेटियाँ अवनि चतुर्वेदी, भावना कंठ और मोहना, जिन्होंने हमें गौरव दिलाया है। इन तीन बेटियों की ख़ास बात है। Flying Officer अवनि मध्य प्रदेश के रीवा से हैं, Flying Officer भावना बिहार में बेगूसराय से हैं और Flying Officer मोहना गुजरात के बड़ोदरा से हैं। आपने देखा होगा कि तीनों बेटियाँ हिन्दुस्तान के मेट्रो शहर से नहीं हैं। वे अपने-अपने राज्यों की राजधानी से भी नहीं हैं। ये छोटे शहरों से होने के बावज़ूद भी इन्होंने आसमान जैसे ऊंचे सपने देखे और उसे पूरा करके दिखाया। मैं अवनि, मोहना, भावना इन तीनों बेटियों को और उनके माँ–बाप को भी ह्रदय से बहुत-बहुत शुभकामनायें देता हूँ।

मेरे प्यारे देशवासियो, कुछ दिन पूर्व पूरे विश्व ने 21 जून को ‘अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय योग दिवस’ की वर्षगाँठ पर भव्य कार्यक्रम किये। एक भारतीय के नाते पूरा विश्व जब योग से जुड़ता है, तब हम अहसास करते हैं, जैसे दुनिया हमारे कल, आज और कल से जुड़ रही है। विश्व के साथ हमारा एक अनोखा नाता बन रहा है। भारत में भी एक लाख से अधिक स्थानों पर बहुत उमंग और उत्साह के साथ, भांति-भांति के रंग-रूप के साथ रंगारंग माहौल में अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय योग-पर्व मनाया गया। मुझे भी चंडीगढ़ में हजारों योग प्रेमियों के साथ उनके बीच योग करने का अवसर मिला। आबाल-वृद्ध सबका उत्साह देखने लायक था। आपने देखा होगा, पिछले सप्ताह भारत सरकार ने इस अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय योग-पर्व के निमित्त ही ‘सूर्य नमस्कार’ की डाक टिकट भी जारी की है। इस बार विश्व में ‘Yoga Day’ के साथ-साथ दो चीज़ों पर लोगों का विशेष ध्यान गया। एक तो अमेरिका के New York शहर में जहाँ संयुक्त राष्ट्र संघ की building है , उस building के ऊपर योगासन की भिन्न-भिन्न कृतियों का विशेष projection किया गया और वहाँ आते-जाते लोग उसकी फोटो लेते रहते थे और और दुनिया भर में वो फोटो प्रचलित हो गयी। ये बातें किस भारतीय को गौरव नहीं दिलाएँगी – ये बताइये न! और भी एक बात हुई, technology अपना काम कर रही है। Social media की अपनी एक पहचान बन गयी है और इस बार योग में Twitter ने Yoga। mages के साथ celebration का एक हल्का-फुल्का प्रयोग भी किया। hashtag ‘Yoga Day’ type करते ही Yoga वाले। mages का चित्र हमारे मोबाइल फोन पर आ जाता था और दुनिया भर में वो प्रचलित हो गया। योग का मतलब ही होता है जोड़ना। योग में पूरे जगत को जोड़ने की ताक़त है। बस, ज़रूरत है, हम योग से जुड़ जाएँ।

मध्य प्रदेश के सतना से स्वाति श्रीवास्तव ने इस योग दिवस के बाद मुझे एक टेलीफोन किया और उसने मुझे एक message दिया है आप सबके लिए, लेकिन लगता है, शायद वो ज़्यादा मेरे लिए है: –

“मैं चाहती हूँ कि मेरा पूरा देश स्वस्थ रहे, उसका ग़रीब व्यक्ति भी निरोग रहे। इसके लिए मैं चाहती हूँ कि दूरदर्शन में हर एक सीरियल के बीच में जो सारे ads (advertisement) आते हैं, उसमें से किसी एक ad में योग के बारे में बताएँ। उसे कैसे करते हैं? उसके क्या लाभ होते हैं?” स्वाति जी, आपका सुझाव तो अच्छा है, लेकिन अगर आप थोड़ा ध्यान से देखोगे, तो आपके ध्यान में आएगा; न सिर्फ़ दूरदर्शन इन दिनों भारत और भारत बाहर, टी.वी. मीडिया के जगत में प्रतिदिन योग के प्रचार में भारत के और दुनिया के सभी टी.वी. चैनल कोई-न-कोई अपना योगदान दे रही हैं। हर एक के अलग-अलग समय हैं। लेकिन अगर आप ध्यान से देखोगी, तो योग के विषय में जानकारी पाने के लिए ये सब हो ही रहा है। और मैंने तो देखा है, दुनिया के कुछ देश ऐसे हैं कि जहाँ चौबीसों घंटे योग को समर्पित चैनल भी चलती हैं। और आपको पता होगा कि मैं जून महीने में ‘अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय योग दिवस’ निमित्त प्रतिदिन Twitter और Facebook के माध्यम से हर दिन एक नये आसन का वीडियो शेयर करता था। अगर आप आयुष मंत्रालय की वेबसाइट पर जायेंगे, तो 40-45 मिनट का एक-के-बाद एक शरीर के भिन्न-भिन्न अंगों के लिए किस प्रकार के योग कर सकते हैं, हर आयु के लोग कर सकते हैं, ऐसे सरल योगों का, योग का एक अच्छा वीडियो वेबसाइट पर उपलब्ध है। मैं आपको भी और आपके माध्यम से सभी योग के जिज्ञासुओं को कहूँगा कि वे ज़रूर इसके साथ जुड़ें।

मैंने इस बार एक आवाहन किया है कि जब हम कहते हैं कि योग रोग मुक्ति का माध्यम है, तो क्यों न हम सब मिल कर के जितने भी School of Thoughts हैं योग के सम्बन्ध में; हर एक के अपने-अपने तरीके हैं, हर एक के अपने-अपने priorities हैं, हर एक के अपने अलग-अलग अनुभव हैं, लेकिन सब का अंतिम लक्ष्य एक है। मैं इन जितने प्रकार के योग की विधायें चल रही हैं, जितने प्रकार के योग के institutions चल रही हैं, जितने प्रकार के योग गुरु हैं, सबसे मैंने आग्रह किया है कि क्या हम पूरा ये वर्ष मधुमेह के खिलाफ, Diabetes के खिलाफ, योग के द्वारा एक सफल अभियान चला सकते हैं क्या? क्या योग से Diabetes को Control किया जा सकता है? कुछ लोगों को उसमें सफलता मिली है। हर-एक ने अपने-अपने तरीके से रास्ते खोजे हैं और हम जानते हैं कि Diabetes का वैसे कोई उपचार नहीं बताता है। दवाइयाँ ले कर के गुजारा करना पड़ता है और Diabetes ऐसा राज-रोग है कि जो बाकी सब रोगों का यजमान बन जाता है। भांति-भांति बीमारियों का वो entrance बन जाता है और इसलिए हर कोई Diabetes से बचना चाहता है। बहुत लोगों ने इस दिशा में काम भी किया है। कुछ Diabetic patients ने भी अपनी यौगिक practice के द्वारा उसको नियंत्रित किया है। क्यों न हम अपने अनुभवों को लोगों के बीच share करें। इसको एक momentum दें। साल भर एक माहौल बनाएँ। मैं आपसे आग्रह करता हूँ कि ‘Hashtag Yoga Fights Diabetes, मैं फिर से कह देता हूँ ‘Hashtag Yoga Fights Diabetes’ को use कर अपने अनुभव Social Media पर share करें या मुझे NarendraModi App पर भेजें। देखें तो सही, किस के क्या अनुभव हैं, प्रयास तो करें। मैं आपको निमंत्रित करता हूँ “Hashtag Yoga Fights Diabetes” पर अपने अनुभवों को share करने के लिए। मेरे प्यारे देशवासियो, कभी-कभी मेरे ‘मन की बात’ की बड़ी मजाक भी उड़ाई जाती है, बहुत आलोचना भी की जाती है, लेकिन ये इसलिये संभव है, क्योंकि हम लोग लोकतंत्र के प्रति प्रतिबद्ध हैं। लेकिन आज जब 26 जून, मैं आपसे बात कर रहा हूँ तब, ख़ासकर के नई पीढ़ी को कहना चाहता हूँ कि जिस लोकतंत्र का हम गर्व करते हैं, जिस लोकतंत्र ने हमें एक बहुत बड़ी ताकत दी है, हर नागरिक को बड़ी ताकत दी है; लेकिन 26 जून, 1975 वो भी एक दिन था। 25 जून की रात और 26 जून की सुबह हिंदुस्तान के लोकतंत्र के लिए एक ऐसी काली रात थी कि भारत में आपातकाल लागू किया गया। नागरिकों के सारे अधिकारों को खत्म कर दिया गया। देश को जेलखाना बना दिया गया। जयप्रकाश नारायण समेत देश के लाखों लोगों को, हजारों नेताओं को, अनेक संगठनों को, जेल के सलाखों के पीछे धकेल दिया गया। उस भयंकर काली घटना पर अनेक किताबें लिखी गई हैं। अनेक चर्चायें भी हुई हैं, लेकिन आज जब मैं 26 जून को आपसे बात कर रहा हूँ, तब इस बात को हम न भूलें कि हमारी ताकत लोकतंत्र है, हमारी ताक़त लोक-शक्ति है, हमारी ताकत एक-एक नागरिक है। इस प्रतिबद्धता को हमें आगे बढ़ाना है, और ताकतवर बनाना है और भारत के लोगों की ये ताकत है कि उन्होंने लोकतंत्र को जी के दिखाया है। अखबारों पर ताले लगे हों, रेडियो एक ही भाषा बोलता हो, लेकिन दूसरी तरफ देश की जनता मौका पड़ते ही लोकतांत्रिक शक्तियों का परिचय करवा दे। ये बातें किसी देश के लिए बहुत बड़ी शक्ति का रूप हैं। भारत के सामान्य मानव की लोकतान्त्रिक शक्ति का उत्तम उदाहरण आपातकाल में प्रस्तुत हुआ है और लोकतान्त्रिक शक्ति का वो परिचय बार-बार देश को याद कराते रहना चाहिए। लोगों की शक्ति का एहसास करते रहना चाहिए और लोगों की शक्ति को बल मिले, इस प्रकार की हमारी हर प्रकार से प्रवृत्ति रहनी चाहिए और लोगों को जोड़ना चाहिए। मैं हमेशा कहता हूँ कि भाई, लोकतंत्र का मतलब ये नहीं होता कि लोग vote करें और पाँच साल के लिए आपको देश चलाने का contract दे दें। जी नहीं, vote करना तो लोकतंत्र का एक महत्वपूर्ण है, लेकिन और भी बहुत सारे पहलू हैं और सबसे बड़ा पहलू है जन-भागीदारी। जनता का मिजाज, जनता की सोच, और सरकारें जितनी जनता से ज्यादा जुड़ती हैं, उतनी देश की ताकत ज्यादा बढ़ती है। जनता और सरकारों के बीच की खाई ने ही हमारी बर्बादी को बल दिया है। मेरी हमेशा कोशिश है कि जन-भागीदारी से ही देश आगे बढ़ना चाहिए।

अभी-अभी जब मेरी सरकार के 2 साल पूरे हुए, तो कुछ आधुनिक विचार वाले नौजवानों ने मुझे सुझाव दिया कि आप इतनी बड़ी लोकतंत्र की बातें करते हैं, तो क्यों न आप अपनी सरकार का मूल्यांकन लोगों से करवाएँ। वैसे एक प्रकार से उनका चुनौती का ही स्वर था, सुझाव का भी स्वर था। लेकिन उन्होंने मेरे मन को झकझोर दिया। मैंने कुछ अपने वरिष्ठ साथियों के बीच में ये विषय रखा, तो प्रथम प्रतिक्रिया तो reaction ऐसा ही था कि नहीं-नहीं जी साहब, ये आप क्या करने जा रहे हो? आज तो technology इतनी बदल चुकी है कि अगर कोई इकट्ठे हो जाये, कोई गुट बन जाये और technology का दुरूपयोग कर गये, तो पता नहीं Survey कहाँ से कहाँ ले जाएंगे। उन्होंने चिंता जाहिर की। लेकिन मुझे लगा, नहीं-नहीं, risk लेना चाहिए, कोशिश करनी चाहिए। देखें, क्या होता है, और मेरे प्यारे देशवासियो, खुशी की बात है कि जब मैंने technology के माध्यम से अलग-अलग भाषाओं का उपयोग करते हुए जनता को मेरी सरकार का मूल्यांकन करने के लिए आवाहन किया। चुनाव के बाद भी तो बहुत survey होते हैं, चुनाव के दरम्यान भी survey होते हैं, कभी-कभी बीच में कुछ issues पर भी survey होते हैं, लोकप्रियता पर survey होते हैं, लेकिन उसकी sample size ज्यादा नहीं होती है। आप में से बहुत लोगों ने ‘Rate My Government-MyGov.in’ पर अपना opinion दिया है। वैसे तो लाखों लोगों ने इसमें रूचि दिखाई लेकिन 3 लाख लोगों ने एक-एक सवाल का जवाब देने के लिए मेहनत की है, काफी समय निकाला है। मैं उन 3 लाख लोगों का बहुत आभारी हूँ कि उन्होंने स्वयं सक्रियता दिखाई, सरकार का मूल्यांकन किया। मैं नतीजों की चर्चा नहीं करता हूँ, वो हमारे Media के लोग जरूर करेंगे। लेकिन एक अच्छा प्रयोग था, इतना तो मैं जरूर कहूँगा और मेरे लिए भी खुशी की बात थी कि हिंदुस्तान की सभी भाषाएँ बोलने वाले, हर कोने में रहने वाले, हर प्रकार के background वाले लोगों ने इसमें हिस्सा लिया और सबसे बड़ी मेरे लिए अचरज़ तो है ही है कि भारत सरकार की जो ग्रामीण रोजगार की योजना चलती है, उस योजना की जो Website है, उस Portal पर सब से ज्यादा लोगों ने बढ़-चढ़ कर के हिस्सा लिया। इसका मतलब कि ग्रामीण जीवन से जुड़े, गरीबी से जुड़े हुए लोगों का इसमें बहुत बड़ा सक्रिय योगदान था, ऐसा मैं प्राथमिक अनुमान लगाता हूँ। ये मुझे और ज्यादा अच्छा लगा। तो आपने देखा, एक वो भी दिन था, जब कुछ वर्ष पहले 26 जून को जनता की आवाज दबोच दी गई थी और ये भी वक्त है कि जब जनता खुद तय करती है, बीच-बचाव तय करती है कि देखें तो सही, सरकार ठीक कर रही है कि गलत कर रही है, अच्छा कर रही है, बुरा कर रही है। यही तो लोकतंत्र की ताकत है।

मेरे प्यारे देशवासियो, आज मैं एक बात के लिए विशेष आग्रह करना चाहता हूँ। एक ज़माना था, जब taxes इतने व्यापक हुआ करते थे कि tax में चोरी करना स्वभाव बन गया था। एक ज़माना था, विदेश की चीज़ों को लाने के सम्बन्ध में कई restriction थे, तो smuggling भी उतना ही बढ़ जाता था, लेकिन धीरे-धीरे वक्त बदलता गया है। अब करदाता को सरकार की कर-व्यवस्था से जोड़ना अधिक मुश्किल काम नहीं है, लेकिन फिर भी पुरानी आदतें जाती नहीं हैं। एक पीढ़ी को अभी भी लगता है कि भाई, सरकार से दूर रहना ज्यादा अच्छा है। मैं आज आपसे आग्रह करना चाहता हूँ कि नियमों से भाग कर के हम अपने सुख-चैन गवाँ देते हैं। कोई भी छोटा-मोटा व्यक्ति हमें परेशान कर सकता है। हम ऐसा क्यों होने दें? क्यों न हम स्वयं अपनी आय के सम्बन्ध में, अपनी संपत्ति के सम्बन्ध में, सरकार को अपना सही-सही ब्यौरा दे दें। एक बार पुराना जो कुछ भी पड़ा हो, उससे मुक्त हो जाइए। इस बोझ से मुक्त होने के लिए मैं देशवासियो को आग्रह करता हूँ। जिन लोगों के पास Undisclosed Income है, अघोषित आय है, उनके लिए भारत सरकार ने एक मौका दिया है कि आप अपनी अघोषित आय को घोषित कीजिये। सरकार ने 30 सितम्बर तक अघोषित आय को घोषित करने के लिए विशेष सुविधा देश के सामने प्रस्तुत की है। जुर्माना देकर के हम अनेक प्रकार के बोझ से मुक्त हो सकते हैं। मैंने ये भी वादा किया है कि स्वेच्छा से जो अपने मिल्कियत के सम्बन्ध में, अघोषित आय के सम्बन्ध में सरकार को अपनी जानकारी दे देंगे, तो सरकार किसी भी प्रकार की जांच नहीं करेगी। इतना धन कहाँ से आया, कैसे आया – एक बार भी पूछा नहीं जाएगा और इसलिए मैं कहता हूँ कि अच्छा मौका है कि आप एक पारदर्शी व्यवस्था का हिस्सा बन जाइए। साथ-साथ मैं देशवासियों को कहना भी चाहता हूँ कि 30 सितम्बर तक की ये योजना है, इसको एक आखिरी मौका मान लीजिए। मैंने बीच में हमारे सांसदों को भी कहा था कि 30 सितम्बर के बाद अगर किसी नागरिक को तकलीफ़ हो, जो सरकारी नियमों से जुड़ना नही चाहता है, तो उनकी कोई मदद नही हो सकेगी। मैं देशवासियों को भी कहना चाहता हूँ कि हम 30 सितम्बर के बाद ऐसा कुछ भी ना हो, जिससे आपको कोई तकलीफ़ हो, इसलिए भी मैं कहता हूँ, अच्छा होगा 30 सितम्बर के पहले आप इस व्यवस्था का लाभ उठाएँ और 30 सितम्बर के बाद संभावित तकलीफों से अपने-आप को बचा लें।

मेरे देशवासियो, आज ये बात मुझे ‘मन की बात’ में इसलिए करनी पड़ी कि अभी मैंने हमारे जो Revenue विभाग -Income Tax, Custom, Excise – उनके सभी अधिकारियों के साथ मैंने एक दो-दिन का ज्ञान-संगम किया, बहुत विचार-विमर्श किया और मैंने उनको साफ-साफ शब्दो में कहा है कि हम नागरिकों को चोर न मानें। हम नागरिकों पर भरोसा करें, विश्वास करें, hand-holding करें। अगर वे नियमों से जुड़ना चाहते हैं, उनको प्रोत्साहित करके प्यार से साथ में ले आएँ। एक विश्वास का माहौल पैदा करना आवश्यक है। हमारे आचरण से हमें बदलाव लाना होगा। Taxpayer को विश्वास दिलाना होगा। मैंने बहुत आग्रह से इन बातों को उनसे कहा है और मैं देख रहा था कि उनको भी लग रहा है कि आज जब देश आगे बढ़ रहा है, तो हम सबने योगदान देना चाहिए। और इस ज्ञान-संगम में जब मैं जानकारियाँ ले रहा था, तो एक जानकारी मैं आपको भी बताना चाहता हूँ। आप में से कोई इस बात पर विश्वास नहीं करेगा कि सवा-सौ करोड़ के देश में सिर्फ और सिर्फ डेढ़ लाख लोग ही ऐसे हैं, जिनकी Taxable Income पचास लाख रूपये से ज्यादा है। ये बात किसी के गले उतरने वाली नहीं है। पचास लाख से ज्यादा Taxable Income वाले लोग बड़े-बड़े शहरो में लाखों की तादाद मे दिखते हैं। एक-एक करोड़, दो-दो करोड़ के Bungalow देखते ही पता चलता है कि ये कैसे पचास लाख से कम आय के दायरे में हो सकते हैं। इसका मतलब कुछ तो गड़बड़ है, इस स्थिति को बदलना है और 30 सितम्बर के पहले बदलना है। सरकार को कोई कठोर कदम उठाने से पहले जनता-जनार्दन को अवसर देना चाहिए और इसलिए मेरे प्यारे भाइयो-बहनो, अघोषित आय को घोषित करने का एक स्वर्णिम अवसर है। दूसरे प्रकार से, 30 सितम्बर के बाद होने वाले संकटों से मुक्ति का एक मार्ग है। मैं देश की भलाई के लिये, देश के गरीबों के कल्याण के लिये आपको इस काम में आने के लिए आग्रह करता हूँ और मैं नही चाहता हूँ कि 30 सितम्बर के बाद आपको कोई तकलीफ़ हो।

मेरे प्यारे देशवासियो, इस देश का सामान्य मानव देश के लिए बहुत-कुछ करने के लिए अवसर खोजता रहता है। जब मैंने लोगों से कहा – रसोई गैस की subsidy छोड़ दीजिये, इस देश के एक करोड़ से ज्यादा परिवारों ने स्वेच्छा से subsidy छोड़ दी। मैं खास करके जिनके पास अघोषित आय है, उनके लिए एक खास उदाहरण प्रस्तुत करना चाहता हूँ। मैं कल Smart City के कार्यक्रम के निमित्त पुणे जब गया था, तो वहाँ मुझे श्रीमान चन्द्रकान्त दामोदर कुलकर्णी और उनके परिवारजनों से मिलने का सौभाग्य मिला। मैंने उनको खास मिलने के लिए बुलाया था और कारण क्या है, जिसने कभी भी कर चोरी की होगी, उनको मेरी बात शायद प्रेरणा दे या ना दे, लेकिन श्रीमान चन्द्रकान्त कुलकर्णी की बात तो ज़रूर प्रेरणा देगी। आप जानते हैं, क्या कारण है? ये चन्द्रकान्त कुलकर्णी जी एक सामान्य मध्यम-वर्गीय परिवार के व्यक्ति हैं। सरकार में नौकरी करते थे, retire हो गए, 16 हजार रुपया उनको pension मिलती है। और मेरे प्यारे देशवासियो, आपको ताज्जुब होगा और जो कर-चोरी करने की आदत रखते हैं, उनको तो बड़ा सदमा लगेगा कि ये चन्द्रकान्त जी कुलकर्णी हैं, जिन्हें सिर्फ 16 हजार रूपये का pension मिलता है, लेकिन कुछ समय पहले उन्होंने मुझे चिट्ठी लिखी और कहा था कि मैं मेरे 16 हजार रुपये के pension में से हर महीने 5 हजार रुपया स्वच्छता अभियान के लिए donate करना चाहता हूँ और इतना ही नहीं, उन्होंने मुझे 52 Cheque, Fifty Two Cheque, post-dated, जो कि हर महीना एक-एक Cheque की date है, Cheque भेज दिए हैं। जिस देश का एक सरकारी मुलाज़िम निवृत्ति के बाद सिर्फ 16 हजार के pension में से 5 हजार रुपया स्वच्छता के अभियान के लिए दे देता हो, इस देश में कर चोरी करने का हमें हक़ नहीं बनता है। चन्द्रकान्त कुलकर्णी से बड़ा कोई हमारी प्रेरणा का कारण नहीं हो सकता है। और स्वच्छता अभियान से जुड़े हुये लोगों के लिए भी चन्द्रकान्त कुलकर्णी से बड़ा उत्तम उदाहरण नहीं हो सकता है। मैंने चन्द्रकान्त जी को रूबरू बुलाया, उनसे मिला, मेरे मन को उनका जीवन छू गया। उस परिवार को मैं बधाई देता हूँ और ऐसे तो अनगिनत लोग होंगे, शायद हो सकता है, मेरे पास उनकी जानकारी न हो, लेकिन यही तो लोग हैं, यही तो लोक-शक्ति है, यही तो ताकत है। 16 हजार की pension वाला व्यक्ति, दो लाख साठ हजार के Cheque advance में मुझे भेज दे, क्या ये छोटी बात है क्या? आओ, हम भी अपने मन को जरा टटोलें, हम भी सोचें कि सरकार ने हमारी आय को घोषित करने के लिये अवसर दिया है, हम भी चन्द्रकान्त जी को याद करके, हम भी जुड़ जाएँ।

मेरे प्यारे देशवासियो, उत्तराखण्ड के पौड़ी गढ़वाल से संतोष नेगी जी ने phone करके अपना एक अनुभव share किया है। जल संचय की बात पर उन्होंने मुझे संदेश दिया है। उनका ये अनुभव देशवासियो, आपको भी काम आ सकता है: –

“हमने आपकी प्रेरणा से अपने विद्यालय में वर्षा जल ऋतु शुरू होने से पहले ही 4 फीट के छोटे-छोटे ढाई-सौ गड्ढे खेल के मैदान के किनारे-किनारे बना दिए थे, ताकि वर्षा जल उसमें समा सके। इस प्रक्रिया में खेल का मैदान भी खराब नहीं हुआ, बच्चों के डूबने का खतरा भी नहीं हुआ और करोड़ों लीटर पानी मैदान का हमने वर्षा जल सब बचाया है।”

संतोष जी, मैं आपका अभिनन्दन करता हूँ कि आपने मुझे ये संदेश दिया और पौड़ी गढ़वाल, पहाड़ी इलाका और वहाँ भी आपने काम किया, आप बधाई के पात्र हैं। और मुझे विश्वास है कि देशवासी भी बारिश का तो मज़ा ज़रूर लें, लेकिन ये परमात्मा का दिया हुआ प्रसाद है, ये अपरंपार संपत्ति है। एक-एक बूँद जल का बचाने के लिये हम कुछ-न-कुछ प्रयास करें। गाँव का पानी गाँव में, शहर का पानी शहर में हम कैसे रोक लें? ये पृथ्वी माता को फिर से एक बार recharge करने के लिये हम उस पानी को फिर से जमीन में वापस कैसे भेजें? जल है, तभी तो कल है, जल ही तो जीवन का आधार है। पूरे देश में एक माहौल तो बना है, पिछले दिनों हर राज्य में, जल संचय के अनेक प्रकल्प किये हैं। लेकिन, अब जब जल आया है, तो देखिये, कहीं चला तो न जाये। जितनी चिंता जीवन को बचाने की है, उतनी ही चिंता जल बचाने की होनी चाहिये।

मेरे प्यारे देशवासियो, आप तो जानते हैं, उन्नीस सौ बाईस नम्बर अब तो आपके याददाश्त का हिस्सा बन गया है। One Nine Two Two, उन्नीस सौ बाईस। ये उन्नीस सौ बाईस ऐसा नंबर है, जिस पर अगर आप missed call करें तो आप ‘मन की बात’ को अपनी पसंदगी की भाषा में सुन सकते हैं। अपने समय के अनुसार, अपनी भाषा में, मन की बात सुन करके देश की विकास यात्रा में योगदान देने का आप भी मन बना लें।

सभी देशवासियो को बहुत-बहुत नमस्कार। धन्यवाद।

My dear fellow citizens, Namaskar!

It’s summer. Everybody makes plans for their summer holidays. Since this is the season of mangoes, we crave for the flavour and taste of this fruit. Sometimes we feel a nap in the afternoon would be nice. But this year the sweltering heat has spoilt the fun for everybody.

It is quite natural for the nation to feel concerned about the unrelenting heat. On top of it, due to continuous drought over the past couple of years, the usual water storage facilities have been adversely affected. Sometimes due to encroachment, sometimes due to silting, the inflow of water into reservoirs and other water bodies gets blocked. As a result, the reservoirs store much less water than their capacity. Worse, because of this cycle that has been going on for years, the capacity itself of these reservoirs is gradually reduced. To cope with the drought and to provide relief from the water crisis, governments are making efforts. But that’s not all. I have noticed that citizens are doing commendable work to help deal with the situation. Awareness is now seen in many villages. Only those who have faced shortage of water know the real value of water. Hence, in such places they are very sensitive about water and are equally active in doing something to deal with the shortage of water.

I was recently told that in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, the Hivrebazaar Gram Panchayat and its villagers have addressed the problem of water shortage by treating it as a major and delicate issue. One can find many villages where there is a desire to store water. At Hivrebazaar the farmers tackled the issue by changing the cropping pattern. They have decided to give up cultivation of those crops that require a lot of water, like sugarcane and banana. It sounds very simple, but in reality it is not so. What a big collective decision this must have been? If one tells the owners of factories that consume a lot of water about the consequences of this consumption and requests them to shut down their units, one can well imagine what the response would be. But see the sensibility of these farmer brothers. When they realised that the cultivation of the sugarcane should be given up because it consumed a lot of water, they went ahead and did it. Instead of sugarcane, they have taken to such crops like fruits and vegetables that require much less water. Farmers in this village have taken so many initiatives such as using sprinklers, drip irrigation techniques, water harvesting and water recharging, that today their village is strong enough to cope with the water crisis that they face. I might be talking of a small place like Hivrebazaar, but there must be many other such villages. I extend my hearty felicitations to such villagers for their fine work.

I was told that in Devas district of Madhya Pradesh, the Gorva Gram Panchayat took up the drive to create farm ponds. They have already created 27 farm ponds. Due to this there has been an increase in the ground water level. Whenever water was required for crops, farmers had access to it. This panchayat has given a rough estimate that their agricultural production has increased by 20 per cent. Not only has water been saved, the quality of water has also vastly improved with the water level increasing. World over it is said that potable water can contributing factor for GDP growth. It certainly contributes to better health.

When the government used railways to transport water to Latur, it became news for the world. There is no doubt that the swift manner in which Indian Railways has acted is praiseworthy. But villagers who have taken various initiatives to save water also deserve equal amount of praise. Indeed, I would say they deserve greater praise. There are several such schemes and programmes that are run by citizens but these doesn’t get our attention. The good work done by the government sometimes does come to our notice. If we look around us, we will see that people are making an effort to combat the menace of drought by trying to find solutions that are new and innovative.

It is human nature that no matter how many perils people face, when they hear a good news from any corner, they feel as if the entire crisis is over. Thus ever since the day it became public knowledge that rainfall this year is expected to be between 106% and 110% it seems as if tidings of peace and happiness have come. There is still some time for the monsoon to arrive, but the news of good rains has already brought joy. At the same time we must remember that a good monsoon offers both an opportunity and a challenge. Can we start a drive to save water in every village from now on itself? Farmers need fertile soil in their fields to grow crops. This time why can’t we take the soil from the bottom of ponds for our fields? If we were to do this, the quality of the soil in our fields would improve and the capacity of ponds to store water would increase. Can we fill empty cement and fertiliser bags with pebbles and sand and use them to stop water from flowing out through breaches? If we were to stop water from draining out for five days, for seven days, it would seep into the ground and the water level would come up. There would be sufficient water in our water-wells. Thus we should strive to retain as much water as possible. The water of a village will be preserved there if we work for it in a determined manner collectively. Therefore, notwithstanding the current water scarcity and drought situation, we have an opportunity during coming one and half months to prepare to harvest rainwater.

I have always said that people who visit Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, can also see there the underground tanks constructed about 200 years ago, that were built to save rain water. Water collected in these tanks remained pure.

Mr. Kumar Krishna has asked on MyGov whether “the cleaning of Ganga will be possible while we our alive”. His concern is quite natural because it has been nearly 30 years since work began in this direction. Many governments came, plans were made to clean Ganga, and a lot of expenditure was incurred without showing results. For this reason there must be crores of Indians like Kumar Krishna who have the same question in their hearts. For those who are religiously inclined, Ganga is the path to salvation for them. I too accept this importance of Ganga. But more than that, Ganga is the giver of life. We get our daily bread from Ganga, we get our earnings from Ganga, and we get a new source of energy from Ganga to live our lives. The flow of Ganga adds momentum to the economic pace of the country. Bhagirath did bring down the river Ganga for us, but to save it, we need crores of Bhagiraths. The project to clean Ganga cannot be successful without mass participation by the people. So we all will have to become agents of change to achieve cleanliness. We shall have to continuously keep on repeating this thing. There are many efforts being made by the government. We are seeking the full cooperation of all the states through which Ganga flows. We are also trying to get voluntary organisations to join us in this effort. We have taken several steps for surface cleaning and to stop industrial pollution. Every day, effluents and garbage in a large quantity flow into Ganga through drains. At Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Patna – trash skimmers have been deployed which clean the river while floating on it. All local bodies have been given this facility and they have been urged to carry on with this work continuously and clean all the garbage from the river. I have been told a few days ago that in places where this work is being carried out properly nearly 3 to 11 tonnes of garbage are being taken out of the river every day. So it would be correct to say that pollutants in such a large quantity are being stopped from getting into the river. In the coming days, we have plans to deploy such trash skimmers at other places also and the benefits of it will be felt by the people living on the banks of Ganga and Yamuna.

To monitor and control industrial pollution, an action plan has been prepared with the pulp and paper, distillery and sugar industries, and it has also been implemented to some extent. I feel it will yield good results. I am very happy that in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, where there was discharge from distilleries, there has been a change for the better. Officers have told me that they have been successful in securing zero liquid discharge. The discharge from the pulp and paper industry or the liquor industry is almost coming to an end. All these things are a sign that we are moving in the right direction and awareness has also increased. I have seen that not just on the banks of Ganga, even in far off South if one meets a person, he is sure to ask, “ Sir, will Ganga be cleaned?” This faith and hope of the common people is going to ensure success in the cleaning of Ganga. People are even giving donations for this. Thus this effort is being made quite meticulously.

My dear fellow citizens, today is the 24th of April. This is observed as Panchayati Raj Day in India. On this day, the Panchayati Raj system was implemented in our country. Panchayati Raj system has gradually spread to the entire country and is functioning successfully as an important unit of our democratic system of governance.

We celebrated 14th April as the 125th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedekar and today we celebrate 24th April as Panchayati Raj Day. This was such a fortunate coincidence. From the birth anniversary of the great man who gave us the Constitution of India, to 24th April, the day Panchayati Raj was introduced in our country to empower our villages, which are the strongest link of our Constitution. It inspired linking these two dates. For this reason, the Government of India, along with the cooperation of the State Governments, has launched a campaign – “From Gram Uday to Bharat Uday” – From the Rise of Villages to the Ascent of India, over the 10-day period between 14th April and 24th April.

It was my good fortune that on 14th April, the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar, I got the opportunity to visit his birthplace Mhow and pay my respects at that sacred place. And today, on 24th April, I am going to Jharkhand, where mostly my tribal brothers and sisters stay. In Jharkhand I am going to celebrate Panchayati Raj Divas. At 3 in the afternoon I shall be talking to all panchayats of the country. This campaign has worked in a major way to generate awareness. How can the democratic institutions at the village level, in every corner of India, be strengthened? How can the villages become self-reliant? How can villages plan programmes for their own development? There should be due importance laid on physical and social infrastructure. There should be no school dropouts in villages and the campaign to educate the girl child (Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Abhiyan) should be successfully carried out. The birth of the girl child should be celebrated in a big way. There should be some plans to do that. In some villages people organised food donation on this occasion. It happens very rarely that so many different programmes go on at the same time in so many villages of India. I congratulate all the State Governments and the village heads. They have gone about these programmes in a very novel way for the welfare of villages, for the development of villages and for the strengthening of democracy. The awareness that has come about in villages guarantees a new progress for India. The foundation for the progress of India is the rise of its villages; so if we all keep laying stress on the progress of the villages, we shall continue to get the desired results.

Sharmila Dharpure from Mumbai has expressed her concern to me through her phone call. Sound byte-

“Mr. Prime Minister Namaskar. I am Sharmila Dharpure speaking from Mumbai. I have a question for you about the school and college education. For the last so many years, a strong need for reforms has been felt in the education sector. Either the required amount of schools and colleges are not there or else the quality in education is lacking. It has been often found that the children complete their schooling but they still don’t have knowledge about the most basic things and so they lag behind in this competitive world. What are your views? How do you wish to bring about reforms?”

Sharmilaji, your concern is quite genuine. Today in every home, the first thing that the parents dream of is to give their children good education. A house, a car – all that comes later. And for a country like India, this common sentiment of the people is a very big force. To educate their children and educate them well, this concern for the children to get good education should increase further and a greater awareness should come about. I believe that when there is awareness in the family, it impacts the school and has an impact on teachers as well. The child is also aware of the purpose for which he or she goes to school. So I would appeal to all guardians and parents to give not just enough time and attention to their children but also to everything that’s happenings in their school. And if something strikes your attention, please go to the school and discuss it with the teachers yourself. Vigilance can be of help to reduce many shortcomings in the education system. People’s participation will go a long way in achieving this.

Every Government in our country has laid stress on education and every Government has made efforts for it in its own way. It is true that for a long time our focus has been on setting up educational institutions, expanding the system of education, building schools, building colleges, recruiting teachers, ensuring maximum attendance of children. So priority has been given in a way to the spread of education. This was necessary. But today more than expanding education what is necessary is to improve the quality of education. We have already done a lot towards expanding education. Now we will have to focus on quality education. We will have to shift our priority from literacy campaign to good education. Till now we concentrated on the outlay for education. The time has come to focus on the outcome of it. Till now the stress has been on how many are attending school. From now onward, more than schooling, we will have to lay stress on learning. Till now we have heard the echo of the mantra of Enrolment! Enrolment! Enrolment! But now we will have to turn our attention to providing good education, worthy education to children who have made it to schools. You must have seen the Budget of the present government. An effort is being made to provide quality education. But it is true we still have a long way to go. If we, 125 crore Indians, resolve, we can cover that distance. Sharmila ji has rightly said that we do need to bring reforms for quality education.

You must have noticed in the Budget that we have decided to do something unconventional. In the Budget, we have made 10 government universities and 10 private universities free from government control and asked them to accept the challenge to flourish on their own. We have asked them to come up with what they would like to do to become the best universities. We have done this with the intention of giving them a free hand. Indian universities can also compete with world class universities, and they should. Along with importance to education, there is importance to skill. Likewise, technology plays a very big role in education. Long distance education and technology will make the task of education simpler. I believe that the results of this move are going to be seen in the near future.

Since a long time people have been asking me questions on one topic. Some have written on my web portal mygov.in, others have written to me on NarendraModiApp. It’s mostly the youth who write to me.

Sound Byte-

“Mr. Prime Minister Namaskar, I am Mona Karnwal from Bijnore. For the youth in today’s age, along with studies, sports are also of great importance. They should have a feeling of team spirit and the qualities of a good leader for their overall holistic development. I state this from my own experience because I have served in the Bharat Scouts and Guides and this had a very good impact upon my life. I want you to motivate the youth as much as you can, and I want the government to also promote NCC, NSS and the Bharat Scouts and Guides as much as possible.”

You people have been sending me so many suggestions that one day I felt that first of all I must talk to these people. It was under pressure from you people, following your suggestions, that I recently called for a meeting with the chiefs of NCC, NSS, Bharat Scouts and Guides, Red Cross and the Nehru Yuva Kendra. I asked them if they have ever had a meeting before, and they said that since Independence, this was the first time that they were attending a meeting like this. So first I would like to felicitate my young friends who put pressure on me, the result of which was that I held this meeting. I felt glad that I met them. I felt the need for greater coordination. They are doing a lot in their own way but if work is done collectively, in an organized manner, then these various organizations of ours can bring about huge results. They are spread so wide, reaching out to so many families. I saw an answer in the way they had spread far and wide and were filled with enthusiasm, they had the resolve to do something. It’s true that I myself have been a cadet in the NCC and so I know firsthand how one acquires a fresh perspective through such organizations. Children draw inspiration and develops a national perspective. I did get the benefit of that in my childhood. I believe that we should infuse a new life, a new force into these organizations. This time I put some issues before them. I told them that for this season why don’t all these organizations and our youth make an effort for water conservation. We could collectively try and stop open defecation in so many blocks and so many districts. What kind of programmes can we make to unite our country? Can we have a common youth song for all these organizations? We spoke on many issues.

Today, I appeal to you all as well. Please suggest the perfect ideas for these youth organizations. Do we need to add anything new in their functioning and their programmes? If you write to me on my NarendraModiApp , I will send them to the right place. After this meeting, I feel they are going to gain a new momentum. Now even you will wish to join one of them.

My dear fellow citizens, I now wish to talk about something that will compel us all to think. I view it also as something that is going to shake us all. You must have seen for yourself that the political situation in our country is such that in the previous elections political parties made promises of giving each household 9 to 12 gas cylinders. And each political party felt that if they had to politically approach the middle class society, then gas cylinder was a major issue. On the other hand, economists have put constant pressure to reduce the subsidy on gas cylinders. For this reason, many committees would sit which would receive many proposals and suggestions on the issue of lessening the gas subsidy. Crores of rupees would be spent on these committees. But the matter would remain at a standstill. This has been everybody’s experience. No one ever thought beyond this.

Today, my dear fellow citizens, I have utmost pleasure in placing before you all my own account on this. I have chosen the third way out and that is the path of placing trust and confidence in the people and the masses. At times we political leaders should trust our people more than we trust ourselves. We should have implicit faith in the people. I had once said to you that if you can bear the expense of 1500-2000 rupees per year, then why don’t you give up your subsidy on gas? This could be of use to poor households. I had said it just like that, but today I can say with confidence that I am indeed very proud of you all. One crore families have voluntarily given up their subsidy on gas cylinders. These one crore are not wealthy families. Among them are retired teachers, retired clerks, farmers, small shopkeepers. These are middle class and lower middle class families that have given up their subsidy. Now look at the other, rather unique, side of it. They could have given up their subsidy through the App on their mobile, going online or by giving a missed call over the telephone. There were many options. But it has been estimated that more than 80% of these one crore families chose to go to the distributor, stand in a queue and give in writing that they wish to surrender their subsidy.

My dear fellow citizens, this is not a small matter. If the government gives even a small concession on tax or exemption from tax, then for a whole week we hear praise for that government being splashed on TV channels and in newspapers. Here, these one crore families have given up their subsidy. And in our country subsidy has turned into a kind of a right that people expect. A thing like that they have chosen to give up.

I would like to salute those one crore families. I humbly bow to them because they have compelled political leaders to think of coming up with something new. This has also forced the economists of the country to think differently. Even the global economic experts who used to live in a world of their calculations would find this phenomenon to be beyond their limits of traditional wisdom. At some point of time they will also have to think of this novel experience that has defied conventional thinking. One crore families giving up their subsidy on gas cylinders and in return one crore poor families getting gas cylinders with the money that is saved from the one crore families that have given up their subsidy. Externally, it appears just an incident But, its extraordinary lesson is that if you place faith in the people, it leads to most handsome achievements.

I would like to specially appeal to the entire political class to place implicit faith in the people. That will fetch such terrific results that one could have never ever imagined. We should move in this direction. I have always felt this way, like when I felt why Class 3 and Class 4 employees should be made to go through interviews. We should trust the person who has given the exams and submitted the marks.

Sometimes I feel that we should publicly announce that today on this route of the railways there will be no ticket checker. Let’s see what happens when we place faith in the people of India. We can undertake several such experiments. Once we place faith and trust in the people of India, we can get incomparable results. Anyway, these are just some personal thoughts. We cannot make these into government rules but we can certainly create that kind of an atmosphere. This atmosphere has not been created by any political leader but by one crore families of India.

A person called Ravi has written to me – “Good News Everyday — he writes — please ask your officials to post about one good incident every day. Each newspaper and news channel has bad news for its every ‘breaking news’. Is there not anything good happening around in this country populated by 125 crore people? Please change this situation.”

Ravi ji has expressed his anger but I think he is not venting his anger on me but on the prevailing conditions. You may remember that the former President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, used to always say, “Please print only positive news on the front page of the newspaper”. He used to continuously repeat that.

Some days back a newspaper had written a letter to me saying that they had decided that on Mondays they would not give any negative news but only positive news. These days I have noticed that some T.V. channels have begun setting aside some time for positive news.

So it is right to say that there is an atmosphere all around of positive news. And everybody feels that the people should get the right news and good news. It is true that even if the most highly placed men and women relate the best possible things in the best possible words and in the best possible manner, good news has a better impact than that. Good news becomes the greatest reason and inspiration to do something good.

It is true that the more we give prominence to good things, the less space there will be for bad things. If we light a lamp, the darkness is sure to be dispelled. You all must be aware that the government has started a website,transforming india. On this you get news of positive happenings, not just of the government but also of the people around. This is a portal where even you can send news of any good thing that’s happened to you. You can contribute to the site.

Raviji you have given a good suggestion, but please don’t get angry with me. We all should strive together to do something positive, talk about something positive, to spread something positive.

There is one great speciality of our country — the Kumbh Mela. The Kumbh Mela can become the centre of tourist attraction as well. Very few know that since a long time, crores and crores of people have gathered on the river-banks for this festival. The peaceful atmosphere at the Kumbh Mela gives moments of tranquillity to the soul. These festivals, from the point of view of organization, event management and people’s participation, set new and high standards. I have been noticing for the last two days that many people have uploaded pictures of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela. I would like the Tourism Department of the Government of India and the State Government to hold a photo competition on this occasion. People should be encouraged to take the finest photographs and upload them. What an atmosphere that would create. People will also come to know of the myriad and different activities going on in every corner of the Kumbh Mela. This can surely be done.

It’s true that I met the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh recently and he told me that they have laid special emphasis on cleanliness. It is not that the cleanliness remains confined to that place. People should carry back the message of cleanliness with them. I believe that even if the Kumbh Mela is a religious and spiritual occasion, we can turn it into a social occasion. We can turn it into an occasion of imbibing good values. It can become a reason to carry good resolutions and good habits to all the villages. We should use each Kumbh Mela to make people aware of how we can increase our value for water, our faith in water; how we can spread the message of water conservation. We should do this.

My dear fellow citizens, I will surely meet you all once in the evening on this important occasion of Panchayati Raj Divas today. My heartiest thanks to you all. As always, the unshakeable bond between your inner thoughts and those of mine gives me immense pleasure.

Many thanks!

My Dear Fellow Citizens,

Let me begin by wishing ‘Namaskar’ to all of you. Today, the world over, Christians are observing Easter. I extend my warmest greetings to everybody on the occasion of Easter.

Some of my young friends must be busy with their examinations. Some of them must have gotten over with their examinations by now. For those of you who still have examinations, it must be a testing time with exams on one hand and T-20 Cricket World Cup on the other. I am sure you are eagerly waiting for the match between India and Australia this evening.

Some days ago India won two fine matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh. We are seeing a fine momentum building up in this T-20 Cricket World Cup. Today, as India and Australia get ready to play, I convey my best wishes to both the teams.

With the young comprising 65% of our population, there should be no reason why we should be absent from the world of sports. This won’t do. We need to usher revolutionary changes in sports. We can see that happening in India. As with Cricket, there’s now increasing interest in Football, Hockey, Tennis, and Kabaddi.

You must have come to know that India will be hosting the FIFA Under-17 World Cup next year. Twenty-four teams from all over the world are coming to play in our country. The Indian Football team won the gold medal at the Asian Games in 1951 and 1962, and came fourth in the 1956 Olympics. Unfortunately, over the decades we have slipped from there to the lowest rungs. Today our ranking in FIFA is so low that I feel reluctant even to mention it.

On the other hand, I have been noticing that interest in Football among the youth in India has been rising – be it the English Premier League, Spanish League or the Indian Super League matches. Young Indians take time out to get the latest information on these matches and watch them on television. What I mean to say is, given this rising popular interest in Football and the opportunity of hosting FIFA Under-17 World Cup, shall we just play the role of a host and fulfil our responsibility? Or will we use the opportunity to our advantage to promote sports?

We should create an atmosphere of Football, Football, Football all around for this whole year – in schools, colleges, indeed, all over India. Our youth, the children in our schools, should be drenched in sweat just playing Football. If that happens, we shall have real fun playing the host. So, all of us should make the effort to ensure Football reaches every village, street and alley. Between now and the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2017, we should infuse a spirit of enthusiasm in the youth. One advantage of playing the host for this event is that a whole lot of infrastructure will get created with addition of sports facilities. But I personally shall be happy when we are able to link every youth of our country to this game.

Friends, I would like to hear your views on how best to use the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup to our advantage. How should this event be? What kind of programmes should we organise the whole year to help the event gain momentum? How should it be publicised? What improvements do we need to make? How can we increase the interest of our youth in sports through the 2017 FIFA under-17 World Cup? How can we introduce an element of competitiveness in governments, educational institutes and social organisations to associate with the game?

We can see all this happening in relation to cricket; we should now try to bring these elements in relation to other sports disciplines as well. The FIFA event offers us a unique opportunity to do so. Can you send me your suggestions on how best to use that opportunity? I view the FIFA event as a great opportunity to establish India as a brand at a global level. I consider this to be an opportunity to let the world know of India’s youth power – not in the sense of winning or losing a match. In the run-up to and preparation for the 2017 FIFA event, we can harness and display our many strengths; while doing so, we can do image-branding for India as well.

I look forward to your suggestions on the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup which you can send me through NarendraModiApp. Do let me know what should be the logo and the slogans. How should we propagate this throughout India? What should the songs be like? What should be in the souvenirs? Think about it friends. I would like every youth of mine to become an ambassador for the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup. You should robustly participate in this event. It’s a golden chance to build India’s image.

My dear students, you must have thought of travelling to places during your holidays. There are very few people who go abroad; most people visit places within their own states for a week or so. Some people also go outside their states. Last time too, I had requested all of you to upload photographs of the places you visit. And I have noticed that the kind of work which our Department of Tourism, our Department of Culture, State Governments and the Government of India can’t do, that kind of work has been accomplished by millions and millions of Indian tourists. Photos of such magnificent places were uploaded that it was truly a delight to view them.

We have to take this task forward. Do it this time as well. But this time, along with a photo, please write and send a small piece about the place, thus displaying your creative prowess. One gets to learn a lot by visiting new places. Things we can’t learn in a classroom, within our family, from our friends, sometimes we can learn those things by travelling. We get to experience something fresh with each new place we visit – we learn about people, their languages, foods and lifestyles. Someone has rightly said that “A traveller without observation is a bird without wings”. “If you have a desire to truly view, you should also develop an insight.” India is full of diversities. Once you set out to see the country, for the rest of your life you will keep seeing new things and still never get enough of it. I have been fortunate that I had a lot of opportunities to travel. When I was neither Chief Minister nor Prime Minster, and I was young like you, I travelled a lot. Perhaps there isn’t a district in India which I have not visited.

Travel plays a very strong role in shaping our lives. These days the youth of India are being driven by a spirit of adventure and curiosity. Unlike before, they don’t want to go to the same old places or tread the oft beaten track. They want to do something new, see something new. I see this as a good sign. Our youth should be bold. They should be brave. They should have the courage to set foot on places where no one has been before.

In this context, I would like to specially congratulate Coal India. Western Coalfields Limited at Savaner near Nagpur, where there are coal mines, has developed an Eco-friendly Mine-Tourism Circuit. Generally we don’t think of coal mines as places to be visited. When we see pictures of miners, we wonder what it must be like out there. We even have a saying, “Coal blackens your hands”, hence people tend to stay away from coal mines. But Western Coalfields Limited has made these same coal mines a destination for tourism. This is only the beginning, but already nearly 10,000 people have visited this Eco-friendly Mine-tourism site at Savaner near Nagpur. This in itself gives us an opportunity to see something new.

I hope that when you set out on a journey during the coming holidays you can contribute something to cleanliness too. There is greater awareness about cleanliness and people are making an effort to keep tourism destinations litter-free. Both tourists and local residents of these places are contributing to it. Maybe it is not being done in a very scientific way, but it is being done. Can you too, being a tourist, lay stress on cleanliness at tourist destinations? I am confident that our youth will definitely help me in this task.

Tourism is a sector that provides maximum employment. Even the poorest person gets a chance to earn from tourism. When tourists visit a place, even the not-so-well-off among them spend money. Rich tourists are bound to spend more money. There are many employment opportunities created by tourism. India lags far behind in tourism when compared to the world. But if we, 125 crore Indians, decide that we have to give importance to our tourism sector, we can attract the world. We can draw a very large number of tourists to our side. Through this we can provide new employment opportunities to several million young people in India. Be it the government, institutions, society, citizens – we all have to come together to make this happen. Come, let’s make an endeavour in this direction.

My dear young friends, I don’t like it when holidays are just frittered away. You too should think along these lines. Will you let your holidays during the most important years of your life slip away just like that? I will give you something to ponder upon. Can you resolve to add one skill, one special attribute to your personality, during your holidays? If you don’t know how to swim, can you resolve to learn swimming during the holidays? If you don’t know how to cycle, can you resolve to learn cycling during the holidays? Or you could tell yourself, “I type with just two fingers on the keyboard, so shouldn’t I learn proper way of typing?” There are so many skills to develop our personality. Why not learn them? Why not overcome some of our shortcomings? Why not add to our strengths? Do give it a thought.

It is not like you need lots of classes, a great trainer, hefty fees or a big budget for this. You can find something around you. Let’s say you decide to make the ‘best’ out of ‘waste’. Just look for some waste material and start creating something from it. You will enjoy it. By the time evening falls, you will marvel at what you have created from that rubbish. Suppose you are fond of painting and you don’t know how to paint. Just start painting and gradually you will get better at it. You must spend your holidays on building your personality by developing some new talent, acquiring some new skill. There can be countless areas where you could do so; it is not as if these are confined to only the ones that I am spelling out for you. This will help you in carving out your own identity and raising your self-confidence tremendously. Just try it for yourself. When you return to school or college and tell your classmates about what you learned during the holidays, and when your friends find that they have not learned anything new, they will realise that they wasted their time. They will admire you, “You are a very determined man, my friend, you have accomplished something concrete.” This will perhaps become a big thing among friends. I am confident that you will surely do it and, yes, do share with me what you have learned.

This time a lot of suggestions have come for Mann Ki Baat on www.mygov.in: –

Sound Byte- “My name is Abhi Chaturvedi. Namaste dear Prime Minister, you had said during the last summer holidays that even birds feel the summer heat so we should fill a bowl with water and place it in the balcony or the terrace so that the birds can come to have water. I did this and enjoyed it and in this way I made friends with a lot of birds. I request you to repeat this task in Mann Ki Baat. Thank You.”

My dear fellow citizens, I would like to express my gratitude to this little boy Abhi. He called me up and reminded me of what I had said. Frankly, I had forgotten about it. And I did not have it in my mind that I would say something on this topic, but Abhi has reminded me that last year I had asked you to put an earthen bowl filled with water for the birds.

Friends, I want to thank this boy Abhi Chaturvedi. He has reminded me of a good deed by calling me. Last summer I had remembered it and asked you to put water in earthen bowls for the birds during summers. Abhi has told me that he has been doing this for a whole year and many birds have now become his friends. The great Hindi poetess Mahadevi Verma used to love birds. She wrote this in one of her poems, “We shall not let you fly far way, we shall fill the courtyard with grains and fill the tank with sweet and cool water…” Come, let us also do what Mahadevi Ji used to do. I greet Abhi and thank him for reminding me of this very important thing.

Shilpa Kukke from Mysore has raised a very humane issue. She says milkmen, newspaper vendors, postmen come close to our homes. Sometimes utensil hawkers and cloth sellers too pass by our homes. Have we ever offered them some drinking water during the summer days? Have we ever given them water to drink? Shilpa, I am very grateful to you that you have articulated something so sensitive in so simple a manner. It is a small gesture but when the postman comes and we offer him water, he will feel good. Of course, it is a part of our nature in India. But I am glad, Shilpa, that you have observed these things.

My dear farmer brothers and sisters, you must have repeatedly heard the term – Digital India. Some people feel that Digital India is to do with the world of the youth in our cities. No, it’s not like that. You will be happy to learn that a ‘Kisan Suvidha App’ has been launched to serve your interests. If you download this ‘Kisan Suvidha App’ on your mobile phone, you will receive a lot of information related to agriculture and weather at your fingertips. There are many topics on this App, such as what is the state of the market, what is the position of the wholesale market, which crops are doing well these days, which are the appropriate pesticides. Not just this. There is a button on the App which will connect you directly with agricultural scientists and link you with the experts. If you pose a question to them, they will reply to it; they will explain things to you. I hope that my farmer brothers and sisters will download the ‘Kisan Suvidha App’ on their mobile phones. Why don’t you have a look at this gift for you and give it a try to see if something in it is of use to you? If you feel it lacks in anything then you can complain to me also.

My dear farmer brothers and sisters, summer is holiday time for the rest of the people, but for you it is the time to sweat it out even more. A farmer waits for the rains. Before that, he puts in his life and soul to get his field ready so that not even a single drop of rain water goes waste. For farmers, the season just before onset of farming is of utmost importance. We will have to give a thought to what will happen if there’s no water. Can we utilise this time to visit ponds, check the routes through which water flows into these ponds and spot the places where garbage or something else blocks the water from flowing, because of which reservoirs get depleted. Can we not remove the blockage and clean the inlets so that more water gets collected? If we manage to save and collect more water during the first rainfall and fill up our ponds, rivers and streams, then even if the rains fail later, our losses will be reduced. But this can be possible only when we conserve each and every drop of water.

You must have noticed that this time it has been decided to construct five lakh ponds and farm water reservoirs. Under MNREGA also a stress has been given to create assets for water conservation. Every village should save water. How can we save every drop of water during the coming rains? How do we begin an exercise to ensure that every drop of water in the village stays within the village? You should devise a plan and get connected with Government schemes so that we can start a people’s movement which will help us understand the importance of water. Then everyone can join in the campaign for water conservation. There must be many such villages in the country, many progressive farmers and many conscientious citizens who have already done this kind of work. But we still need to do much more in this direction.

My dear farmer brothers and sisters, a few days ago the Government of India had organised a very big Kisan Mela, ‘Farmers’ Fair’. There I saw the modern technology that is now available for farmers and how much change has come in agriculture. But we have to ensure that this technology reaches the fields. Now even the farmers have started saying the use of fertilisers should be curtailed. I welcome this. Excessive use of fertilisers has made our Mother Earth unwell. We are the children of our soil, so how can we watch our Mother Earth suffering? When we add spices and condiments while cooking our food, it adds to the taste. But if we add too much of even the best of the spices and condiments, then would one want to eat that food? The same food would taste so bad, isn’t it? The same thing happens with fertilisers as well.

No matter how good fertilisers may be, if we use them beyond a limit they will become the cause of ruination. There should be a balance in everything. This will reduce your expenses and you will end up saving money. Our stand is clear: Less Cost, More Output. Invest Less and Reap More. We should move forward with this ‘mantra’ and improve our agriculture sector by using scientific methods. I hope we will do, with full concentration, whatever is necessary for water conservation. We have a couple of months till the onset of monsoon. Do remember, the more we save water, the more the farmers will benefit and more lives will be saved.

My dear fellow citizens, the World Health Day is on 7th April. This year the theme of the World Health Day is ‘Beat Diabetes’. I call upon all of you to defeat Diabetes which plays host to so many diseases. Once it enters yours body, a whole lot of undesirable guests in the form of illnesses follow it. It is said that in 2014 India had about six and a half crore Diabetics. Diabetes was found to be the cause of death in three per cent of all deaths. Diabetes is of two types — Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 is hereditary; if the parents have it, so shall their child. Type 2 is due to your habits, age and obesity. The world is worried about Diabetes and so it has been chosen as the theme for World Health Day on 7th April.

We all know that our lifestyle is the biggest cause for Diabetes. Physical labour is getting reduced. There is not a trace of sweat; there is just no walking around. Even if we play games, we play them online; very little happens offline. Can we not, drawing inspiration from this year’s World Health Day and its theme, do something to defeat Diabetes in our personal life? If you are interested in Yoga, then do Yoga. Or else, the least you can do is to go for a walk or a run. If every citizen of my country is healthy, then my country will be healthy. Sometimes we are reluctant to get our medical check-up done. When the condition worsens then only does it come to our notice that it is Diabetes to blame. What do you lose in getting a check-up done? Please get this much done at least. Everything is available and a check-up can be done easily. Please do be concerned about this.

On March 24th, the world observed Tuberculosis Day. When I was a child we would be scared by the very mention of the word TB. It would seem death was inevitable for anybody suffering from this dreaded disease. But now we are not scared of it because everybody knows TB is curable and can be easily cured. Paradoxically, when TB was linked to death we used to be duly afraid of it; but now that it is curable, we have become almost careless about it. Compared to the world, we still have a large number of TB patients. If we want to free ourselves and our country from TB, then we need correct treatment, we need complete treatment. If we leave the treatment mid-way, it can create new complications for us. Tuberculosis is one disease that even the neighbours can spot. “Oh look! You have a persistent cough and fever and you have lost weight. Go get it checked. You must have got TB.” This shows TB is one illness that can be detected fast.

My dear fellow citizens, there is a lot of work being done in this direction. There are more than 13,500 Microscopy Centres, more than four lakh DOTS providers, various advanced laboratories. And all these services are free. Please go and get a check-up done. This disease can be got rid of. All one needs is the correct treatment and the treatment must continue till the illness is gone completely. I would like to appeal to you all, whether it is TB or Diabetes, we have to conquer these. We have to eradicate these diseases from India. But this cannot happen with just the efforts of the government or by doctors or medicines till you don’t do something about it. So I call upon all of you today to defeat Diabetes and free ourselves from Tuberculosis.

My dear fellow citizens, a number of important occasions are coming up in April, especially on 14th of April which happens to be the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. His 125th birth anniversary was celebrated all over the country. The five pilgrimage spots associated with him – Mhow, his birthplace; London, where he was educated, Nagpur, where he had his ‘Deeksha’; 26, Alipur Road, Delhi, where his soul left him for its heavenly abode; and the cremation ground in Mumbai where his last rites were performed. We are making a constant effort to develop these five pilgrimage spots. I am fortunate to get the chance to visit Mhow, the birthplace of our revered Baba Saheb Ambedkar, on 14th April this year. Baba Saheb has given us a lot to help shape us into ideal citizens. We can pay our best homage to him by following the path set by him and becoming good citizens.

In a few days from now, the new year of Vikram Samvat will begin. It is celebrated in different states in different forms. Some call it Nav Samvatsar, some call it Gudi Padva, some Varsh Pratipada, some Ugadi, but it holds importance in nearly all the states of India. My greetings to everybody on this auspicious occasion of New Year.

As you know and I had said it last time also, you can now listen to my Mann Ki Baat in about 20 languages whenever you wish to. You can choose your own convenient time to listen to it. You can listen to it on your own mobile handset. All you have to do is to give a missed call. I am happy to state that although it has been barely a month since this service was launched, 35 lakh people have availed of it. You too can note down the number. 81908-81908. I repeat – 81908-81908. Give a missed call on this number whenever it is convenient for you. Even if you wish to listen to any previous episode of Mann Ki Baat, you can listen to it in the language of your choice. I will be happy to remain connected with you.

My dear fellow citizens, my heartiest best wishes to you all. Many, many thanks.

My dear fellow citizens, Namaskar.

While listening to this month’s Mann Ki Baat, my inner thoughts, your mind must also be on your children’s exams which begin soon. Some of them have their 10th and 12th board exams starting from the 1st of March. That must be playing on your mind. I wish to be a part of this journey along with you. I am concerned about your children’s exams as much as you are, but I am not worried. If we were to change the way we look at exams then we would be tension-free.

When I shared my inner thoughts with you during last month’s Mann ki Baat, I had requested everybody to send their experiences and suggestions to me on Narendra Modi App. It makes me immensely happy that teachers and students who have had successful careers, as also parents and social thinkers, have shared their experiences and suggestions with me.

There are two things that have moved me. First, those who have written to me have a good grip on the subject; and, second, the sheer volume of the response to my request shows dealing with exams is an extremely important matter. Usually the issue of exams has largely remained confined to schools, teachers, students and their families. But the way suggestions have come pouring in through my App, it seems this should be a subject of constant discussion for the entire nation.

Today, during my Mann ki Baat, I would like to share my inner thoughts on exams with parents, students and teachers. I will share some of the things that I have heard, what I have read, and what I have been told. I will add my views on some exam-related issues about which I feel strongly. I am confident that students who will be appearing for exams will find what I have to say immensely useful to them. That’s how I feel about it.

My dear students, before I begin, why not let a well-known world opener make the opening comments about the things and experiences that helped him achieve heights of success in his life? That would definitely be useful for you. He is someone the young generation is proud of and inspired by — Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar. He has sent a message that I will read out to you:

“Namaskar, I am Sachin Tendulkar speaking. I know that the 10th Board Exams are going to commence in a few days from now. Many of you are going to be tense about them. I have only one message for you all. Your parents, your teachers, your family members and your friends have a lot of expectations from you. Wherever you go, you will be asked ‘How are the preparations going? How many marks are you likely to score?’ I would like to say that you should set a target for yourself. Don’t come under the pressure of someone else’s expectations. You should definitely work hard but set a realistic and achievable target for yourself, and then try to achieve that target. When I used to play cricket, there were a lot of expectations from me as well. I faced a lot of difficult moments in these last 24 years and many a times there were good moments too. But people always had high expectations from me. As time passed, their expectations kept growing. So it was necessary for me to find a solution to this. That’s when I decided that I would set expectations for myself and set my own targets. If I set my own targets and I am able to achieve them, then I am sure to do something good for my country. And those were the targets that I would always try to achieve for myself. My focus would be on the ball, and slowly-slowly targets were achieved on their own. I would like to tell all of you that you must have a positive thinking. Positive results will follow. So you must be positive and God will surely give you good results. I am hopeful of that. My best wishes to you all. Please go write your exams, free from tension,and get good results. Good luck!”

Friends, you heard what Tendulkar-ji had to say. Don’t buckle under the pressure of expectations. It is you who have to shape your own future. So set your own targets for yourselves. Keep an open mind, think freely, and assess your own abilities. I am sure that what Sachin-ji has said will prove very helpful for you. Also, why should there be rivalry? Why not healthy competition? Why do we waste our time competing with others? Why don’t we compete with ourselves? Why don’t we decide to break our own previous record? If you were to do that, none would be able to stop you from moving ahead. When you break your own record, you will not have to depend on others for happiness and satisfaction. There will be a sense of inner satisfaction.

Friends, don’t look at exams as a game of numbers. “How much did I score, where did I score?” – don’t get trapped in this score-keeping. You should think of a greater purpose in life. You should have a dream to realise and a goal that you are committed to. Exams are there to only gauge whether we are going the right way or not, whether we are moving at the right speed or not. So, if our dreams are big and magnificent, exams will become a joyful experience. Each exam will then become just one more step towards realizing that dream; each success will turn into a key of realizing that goal. So don’t brood over what is going to happen in these exams this year. Have a large perspective and a goal, and move ahead. Once you do that, even if you achieve less than what you had expected, you will not be disappointed. Rather, it will give you the strength and confidence to try harder and better the next time.

Thousands of people have used their mobile phones to post small messages on my app. Shrey Gupta has stressed the point that a healthy mind resides in a healthy body only. Students should care for their health along with their studies so that they are able to write their exams well, in good health and spirit. On the last day before exams begin, I would not really urge you to start doing push-ups, get down on the field, or go for a 3 to 5 km walk. But one thing is for sure, especially during the days when examinations are held. And that is, your schedule matters. In any case, our daily schedule for all the 365 days in a year should be in line with achieving our dreams and goals.

I agree with the message posted by Shri Prabhakar Reddy — he has specially urged that one should go to sleep at a proper time and get up early in the morning to revise one’s preparation. One should arrive at the examination centre equipped with the admit-card and other things well before time. This is what Prabhakar Reddy has said, something which I would have perhaps dared not to say because I am not very particular when it comes to sleeping. My friends complain to me often that I sleep very little. This is my shortcoming which I will try to overcome.

I do agree that a fixed time to go to sleep and a sound sleep are as important as other activities during the day. This is possible. I am fortunate that although I sleep very less, I sleep very soundly and thus am able to manage with that little sleep. But I would like to request you all to get proper sleep. There are some who are in the habit of chatting over the phone for long hours before going to sleep. And then they ponder over things they chatted about. How can they get proper sleep? When I talk of sleep, please don’t think I am asking you to sleep at the cost of your preparation for the exams. At the time of exams, you should get a good sleep so that you are free from stress and tension. I am not saying that you should keep on sleeping. It should not be that you score low marks and when your mother asks you why you have fared so badly, you reply that it’s because Modiji had asked us to sleep, so I dozed off. I hope you will not do that. I am sure you won’t do anything like that.

Discipline plays a major role in laying the foundation of success in our lives. A strong foundation comes from discipline. Those who are un-organized and undisciplined, do those things in the evening that they should have done in the morning and then the work they had to do in the afternoon is done late at night. They might feel that their job is somehow done but it results in so much wastage of energy and they are also saddled with unnecessary tension each moment. You must have experienced that when one part of your body feels a little bit of pain, the entire body doesn’t feel well. Not just that, our entire routine collapses. So we should not view anything as trivial or unimportant. Please see to it that you don’t compromise on the time you have set for things. Don’t get into this mess. Do things the way you have planned them.

Friends, I have seen that there are two types of students. There are students who focus their attention on what they have studied, what they have learnt, and what are their strong points. The other kind are those students who keep worrying about which type of questions will be asked during exams, whether they will be able to attempt answering them, will the question paper be easy or difficult. You must have noticed this too. Those who are tense and worry about what kind of questions will be asked, end up having a negative impact on their results as well. On the other hand, students who have the confidence in what they know are able to tackle whatever comes in the question paper. Someone who can express this better than me is the person who is a master at checkmating others, who has checkmated some of the greatest minds in the world. He is chess champion Vishwanathan Anand and he will relate his experiences. Come, why don’t you learn how to checkmate in exams from him!

“Hello, this is Viswanathan Anand. First of all, let me start off by wishing you all the best for your exams. I will next talk a little bit about how I went to my exams and my experiences for that. I found that exams are very much like problems you face later in life. You need to be well rested, get a good night’s sleep, you need to be on a full stomach, you should definitely not be hungry and the most important thing is to stay calm. It is very, very similar to a game of Chess. When you play, you don’t know, which pawn will appear, just like in a class you don’t know, which question will appear in an exam. So if you stay calm and you are well nourished and have slept well, then you will find that your brain recalls the right answer at the right moment. So stay calm. It is very important not to put too much pressure on yourself, don’t keep your expectations too high. Just see it as a challenge – do I remember what I was taught during the year, can I solve these problems. At the last minute, just go over the most important things and the things you feel, the topics you feel, you don’t remember very well. You may also recall some incidents with the teacher or the students, while you are writing an exam and this will help you recall a lot of subject matter. If you revise the questions you find difficult, you will find that they are fresh in your head and when you are writing the exam, you will be able to deal with them much better. So stay calm, get a good night’s sleep, don’t be over-confident but don’t be pessimistic either. I have always found that these exams go much better than you fear before. So stay confident and all the very best to you.”

Vishwanathan Anand has really said something very important. You must have also seen that when he plays in international tournaments, he sits with such a healthy composure. He is so focussed. You must have seen his eyes don’t wander off the chess board. We have all heard of how Arjun focussed his attention on the eye of the bird. In the same way, when we watch Vishwanathan playing chess we see his eyes set on the target, focussed on the game very attentively, and that is a reflection of his inner tranquillity. It is difficult to bring that inner peace within you just by someone merely asking you to do so, but one should try. Why don’t we try to do that in a light-hearted manner? If we were to keep smiling and laughing all through the exam days, we would find inner peace. If you don’t speak to your friends, walk alone, and your face droops flipping through the pages of so many books at the last moment, then you cannot have peace of mind. Laugh a lot along with your friends, share jokes with them, and just see how a calm atmosphere is created on its own.

Just imagine yourself standing at the edge of a pond and you can see beautiful things at its bottom. Suddenly someone throws a stone into the water and there are ripples on the surface. Would you be able to see those beautiful things at the bottom like before? If the water is still, then no matter how deep it is, everything at the bottom can be seen. But if the water is agitated, we can see nothing through it.

There is a lot within you, the treasure as a result of the hard work of a whole year is filled inside you, but if your mind is troubled, you will not be able to discover that wealth. If you have a peaceful mind, then that treasure of yours is going to surface to the top and your exam will turn so very simple for you.

I would like to tell you a little thing about myself. There are times when while listening to a lecture or trying to understand some aspect of governance about which I need to know more, I have to concentrate on what is being said. There are occasions when if I have to strain myself to concentrate, I feel an inner stress building up. Then I realize that if I relax a bit, I will feel better. So here is a technique I have developed for myself. I do deep-breathing. I breathe deeply three to five times. Not more than 50 seconds are spent on this but my mind is at rest and ready to be focused on matters at hand. This is my experience and it might be of help to you as well.

Rajat Agarwal has told us something good. He wrote on my app that we should spend half an hour every day with friends and family to feel relaxed. We should chat with them. This is something very important Rajat-ji has told us because what most of us do is that when we return after an exam, we sit down to calculate what we did right and what we did wrong. And if we have educated parents, on top of it parents who are teachers themselves, then they almost end up making us re-write the entire paper. They ask us what we wrote, then start adding numbers to calculate how much we will score, whether it will be 40, 80 or 90. In this way, your mind is totally consumed by what is already over. And what do you do? You also talk about the same thing with your friends over the phone. “What did you write, what was your answer, what did you do, what do you think… Oh! I got that one wrong… I made a mistake there… Oh dear, I knew the answer to that question but I couldn’t remember it then…” We just get caught in all that. Friends, please don’t do this. What happens in the examination hall is over and done there itself. Please chat about otherthings with your family, talk of other topics, refresh your mind with some light banter. If you have gone on holidays with your parents, then try and remember what you saw. Just come out of that exam mindset and spend half an hour with your parents. What Rajat ji has said is worth pondering over.

Friends, what can I tell you about peace of mind today, before you go for your exams. A message has come for you from someone, who is essentially a teacher-turned-a-value educator. From giving interpretations of the Ram Charit Manas in the present day context, he is now involved with trying to spread its values in the country and to the whole world. Our revered Murari Bapu has sent some important tips for students. He is a teacher and a thinker, and for this reason what he has to say is a blend of both.

“I am Murari Bapu speaking and I would like to tell my student friends not to carry any load on their minds during the exams. Decide upon clear thinking, focus your mind wholly and go sit for the exam. And whatever situation appears, accept it. My experience has been that we can remain happy by accepting the circumstances. If you progress ahead in your exams fearlessly and happily, you are sure to gain success. And even if you are not successful, you will not have any remorse. Nor will you be arrogant of your success. I would like to conclude my message with a couplet – ‘It cannot be that one succeeds each time. Learn to also live with failures’. I felicitate this program Mann ki Baat presented by our honorable Prime Minister and my best wishes to all.”

I am also grateful to our revered Murari Bapu for such a nice message.

Friends I want to tell you about another thing today. I see that in the experiences that people have shared with me, they have spoken a lot about Yoga. And this is a matter of joy to me. Everybody I meet, no matter for how short a time, has something to say about Yoga. This is irrespective of whether the person is from another country or from India. It’s nice to hear that so much attraction has grown for Yoga, so much curiosity has developed for Yoga.

Just see how many people on my mobile App… Shri Atanu Mandal, Shri Kunal Gupta, ShriSushant Kumar, Shri K.G. Anand, ShriAbhijeet Kulkarni… countless people have spoken about meditation and emphasized the beneficial effect of Yoga. Friends, if I ask you to start doing Yoga from tomorrow morning then that would be unfair. But those who are already practising Yoga should not stop it during exam time. If you do Yoga, keep doing it. One thing is for sure, whether it is your student days or any other phase of your life, Yoga is a major key to the development of your inner mind. It is one of the simplest keys; you must pay more attention to it.

Yes, if you have someone nearby who knows Yoga, and if you ask them during your exams, and even if you have never done Yoga before, they will surely be able to tell you a few things to do in Yoga that can very easily be done in a few minutes. See if you can do it. I have a lot of faith in Yoga.

My dear young friends, you are in a great hurry to enter the examination hall, you are in a rush to quickly be seated in your place. But why should you do these things in a hurry. Why can’t you manage your time in such a way that even if you are held up in traffic, you can still reach in time for your exam. Otherwise such hurdles can cause new stress. One more thing: With the limited time that we have, we feel that going through the question paper with all the instructions is going to consume a lot of our time. It is not like that dear friends. You must read those instructions very carefully, at most five minutes will be spent in that, but it will not cause any loss. In fact, it will be quite profitable as things become clearer for you and later you won’t have any regrets. I have seen that when we get the question paper, sometimes we find that it has been modelled on a new pattern. But if we have read the instructions with due attention, we can cope well with it. We know – Ah! Yes, that’s the way we have to go about it! I urge you all that even though it takes 5 minutes of your time, you must go through the question paper carefully.

Yash Nagar writes on my mobile App that when he read a question paper for the first time he found it quite difficult, but when he read the same paper with self-confidence telling himself, “this is the only paper I have got and no other questions are going to be given, I have to deal with just these many questions, and so when I started thinking over them again”, he writes, “I was able to understand this paper quite easily… When I read the questions the first time, I felt I did not know the answers to them, but when I read them again, then I realised that the questions had been posed in a different way.” It is very important to understand the questions. When we don’t understand the questions, that’s when we sometimes find them difficult. I forcefully support the point that Yash Nagar has made. You must read the questions twice, thrice, four times over and try to match them with the things that you know and you will find that answering them becomes simple even before you have actually answered them.

It gives me great joy to share with you a message from Bharat Ratna C N R Rao, our most esteemed scientist. He has emphasized the virtue of patience. He has given a brief but very beautiful message to all students. Come,let me tell you the message of Shri Rao.

“This is C.N.R. Rao from Bangalore. I fully realise that the examinations cause anxiety. That too competitive examinations. Do not worry, do your best. That’s what I tell all my young friends. At the same time remember, that there are many opportunities in this country. Decide what you want to do in life and don’t give it up. You will succeed. Do not forget that you are a child of the universe. You have a right to be here like the trees and the mountains. All you need is doggedness, dedication and tenacity. With these qualities you will succeed in all examinations and all other endeavours. I wish you luck in everything you want to do. God Bless.”

See the style of talking that a scientist has! What I take half an hour to say, he says in a few minutes. This is the strength of science and this is the strength that the mind of a scientist possesses. I am grateful to Shri Raofor inspiring the children of the country. The things that he mentioned about dedication, determination, diligence… just keep at it my friends. If you keep going, then even fear will be afraid. And a golden future awaits you for doing well.

Ruchika Dabas has sent a message on my App and shared her experience. She writes that in her family during exams there is a constant effort to create a positive atmosphere. This is true for the neighbouring families as well. All contributed to a positive environment. This is the way it should be. Sachin ji also talked of a positive approach, a positive frame of mind. We have to radiate a positive energy.

There are many things that inspire us, and don’t think that they inspire only students. No matter at which point of life you are at, fine examples and true stories give great inspiration, great strength, and pave a new path in times of trouble. We have all read about the inventor of the electric bulb, Thomas Alva Edison. But friends, have you ever thought how many years he spent on his work, how many times he met with failure, how much time had to be devoted, how much money was spent, how much disappointment he must have faced when he met with failures. But today that electric bulb illuminates our lives. This is what is called the seeds of success inherent in failures.

Who doesn’t know of Srinivas Ramanujam, one of the greatest names among modern Indian mathematicians? Do you know that he had no formal education in Mathematics? Yet he made a significant contribution to various topics like mathematical analysis, number theory, etc. He had a life riddled with difficulties. Despite that, he gave a lot to this world before passing away. J.K. Rowling is a fine example to show that success can come in anyone’s life at any time. The Harry Potter series is now popular worldwide. But it was not like that from the start. She had to face many difficulties, many problems. J. K. Rowling has herself said that in times of trouble she would channelize all her energies into tasks that had real significance for her.

Exams are not just for the students, they also put the students’ families, schools and teachers to test. Without the support system of parents and teachers, the students would not stand a good chance. If teachers, parents and even senior students all combine to form a team, a unit with a common thinking, and in a planned way move forward, then exams become a lot easier.

Keshav Vaishnav has written to me on my App, complaining that parents should never put pressure on their children to score more marks. They should only motivate them to prepare well for their exams. They should think about the need for their child to stay relaxed.

Vijay Jindal writes that parents should not burden their children with their own expectations. They should boost the confidence of their children as much as possible. They should help maintain their children’s faith in themselves. And this is so right.

Today, I don’t want to say much to the parents. Please don’t create any pressure for your children. If they are talking to any friend of theirs, please don’t stop them. Build a light-hearted environment for them, a positive environment, and see for yourself, be it your son or daughter, what confidence they are infused with. You will be able to see that confidence in your child yourself.

Friends, one thing is for sure, and I want to say this especially to my young friends, that our life has become very different from what it was for the previous generations. Every moment there is a new innovation, a new technology. We get to see new facets of science all the time. Its impact is overwhelming; we all want to link ourselves to science and technology. We also want to move ahead with the speed of science. I say all this because, friends, today is National Science Day, the festival of science in this country. Every year this day is observed on 28th February. On 28th February 1928, Sir C.V. Raman had declared his discovery of the “Raman Effect”. This was the discovery for which he received the Nobel Prize. And so the nation celebrates this day as National Science Day. Curiosity is the mother of science. Each person should have a scientific thinking, should be attracted to science. Each generation should lay stress on innovation. And innovation is not possible without science and technology. Today on National Science Day we should resolve that innovation should gain importance. Science, knowledge, technology… all these things should be a part of our journey to development. This year the theme for National Science Day is ‘Make in India Science and Technology-driven Innovations’. I humbly pay my homage to Sir C.V. Raman and I appeal to you all to raise the level of your interest in science.

Friends, sometimes success comes very late and when it does come to us, our way of looking at life changes completely. As you have been kept very busy with the coming exams, it might be possible that many news stories may not have registered on your minds. But I want to repeat this for all fellow citizens as well. You must have heard recently there has been a major and important discovery in the world of science. Scientists have labored hard, generations of them have persevered, and after nearly 100 years they have gained a huge success. Gravitational Wave has been brought to light with the efforts of our scientists. This is a success for science which was very difficult to achieve. This discovery not only proves the theory of our greatest scientist of the previous century, Albert Einstein, but is also considered a great discovery for the world of physics. It is going to be of use for the whole of humankind. But being Indians, we should all feel happy that in the entire process of this discovery, the sons of our country, our worthy Indian scientists, were also a part of it. I would like to extend my hearty congratulations to all those scientists. Our scientists will be involved in the future as well to take this discovery forward; India will be a part of future international efforts.

My dear fellow citizens, in the last few days we have taken an important decision. To gain more success about this discovery, the Government of India has decided to install a Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, in short it is called LIGO, here in India. This kind of a facility exists only in two places in the world. India is going to be the third. This process is going to gain fresh momentum and strength with India joining hands with others. India, with its reputed resources, will surely be an active participant in this superior science discovery which is for the welfare of humankind. I once again congratulate all scientists and send them my best wishes.

My dear fellow citizens, I would like you to note down one number. From tomorrow, you can give a missed call on this number and listen to Mann ki Baat. You can even listen to it in your mother tongue. The number to give a missed call on is 81908-81908. I repeat 81908-81908.

Friends, your exams begin from day after tomorrow. I have to take an exam tomorrow. 125 crore people of this country are going to take my exam. You know it, don’t you? Tomorrow is Budget Day. 29th February. It is a leap year. But, you must have noticed and felt it while you heard me speak how fit and brimming with confidence I am. My exam gets over tomorrow and yours begin the dayafter. Let us hope we all are successful, then the country will surely succeed.

So friends lots of good wishes to you all. Free from all tension of success and failure, move ahead with a free mind. Keep going at it.

Thank You.

My dear countrymen, this is my first Mann Ki Baat of 2016. Mann Ki Baat has bonded me with you all in such a way that any idea that comes to me, I feel like sharing with you. Yesterday, I went to pay homage to respected Bapu at Rajghat. Every year we pay tributes to the martyrs on this day. Observing 2 minutes silence at sharp 11 A.M. is an occasion to express our gratitude to great and brave men, sages and saints who have laid down their lives for the country. However if we see, there would be many among us who won’t have maintained this 2 minutes silence. Don’t you think that it should become a habit and we should take it up as a national responsibility? I know that this will not happen with just one Mann Ki Baat. However, I thought of sharing what I felt yesterday. And these are the thoughts that inspire us to live for the country. Imagine 125 crore Indians, observing silence for 2 minutes at 11 A.M. on January 30. You can imagine the kind of power this event may have. And it is true what our scriptures have said- “संगच्छध्वं संवदध्वं सं वो मनांसि जानताम” – “May you move in harmony, speak in one voice; let your minds be in agreement”. This is the true strength of a nation and the inspiration comes fom such events.

My dear countrymen, I was trying to understand the thought process of Sardar Patel a few days ago when some of his ideas grabbed my attention. With regards to khadi, Sardar Patel said, “the freedom of India lies in khadi, India’s culture also remains in khadi; non-violence, the ultimate religion that we believe in India, is also in khadi; and the farmers of India for whom you show so much of emotion, their welfare too lies in khadi”. Sardarji used simple language to put across his message in a clear way and he explained the importance of khadi in a proper way. Yesterday on 30th January during the occasion of death anniversary of respectful Bapu, I made an attempt to reach out to as many people associated with khadi and rural industries by writing letters to them. Well, as you knowBapu was a supporter of science, so I also used technology as a medium to reach these lakhs of brothers and sisters. Khadi has now become a symbol, it has a different identity. Now, khadi is becoming the centre of attraction for the young generation and has become a perfect solution for those who have an inclination for organic and holistic health care. Khadi has carved out a niche for itself in the fashion world. My greetings to the people associated with khadi for their earnest efforts to bring something new in khadi. Market has its own importance in the economy. In addition to the emotional value, it is important that khadi makes a mark in the market itself. When I told people that you have so many different types of garments, then you should have khadi as well. And now people are understanding that if they can’t become a person using khadi only, they can however have atleast one khadi in addition to the several garments in their closet. The Government organizations are witnessing a positive trend for khadi. You may recall, many years ago, khadi was used extensively in the government organizations. However, it slowly began fading out of the scene in the name of modernization and those associated with the Khadi industry were losing jobs. Khadi has the potential to provide employment to millions. Few days ago, Railway Ministry, Police Department, Indian Navy, Postal Department of Uttarakhand and many such government organizations took intiatives to promote the use of khadi. And I was told that, efforts from the government organizations will result in more work for people in this sector, will generate employment of additional 18 lakh man days to fulfill the requirements, serve the needs of the government, which in turn would be a big jump in itself. Respected Bapu was always aware and insistent of technological up-gradation and also remained in the forefront for the same. And this is why, with constant development, our ‘Charkha’ has arrived to where it is now. Running charkha with solar and linking solar energy with Charkha have become a successful experiment. It has made it more efficient, production is higher and there is an enhancement in quality of the yarn. I have received many letters especially on the solar charkha. Geeta Devi and Komal Devi from Dausa in Rajasthan, and Sadhna Devi from Nawada district in Bihar have written to me saying that slar charkhas has made remarkable changes in their lives. “Our income has doubled and there has been a rise in demand for our yarn”. All these things adds to enthusiasm. And on January 30, when we rememeber Respected Bapu, I repeat – atleast make it necessary to keep one khadi among many of your garments, and become an supporter for the same.

Fellow Citizens, we all celebrated the 26th January with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm. Braving the terror threats, citizens of our country showed courage and celebrated the Republic Day with pride and dignity. But some people came out with an out of the box thinking. I would like to emphasize that these innovations are worth paying attention, especially the experiments of Haryana and Gujarat. The two states selected the most educated girls from every village to do the flag hosting in government run schools in the states. Haryana and Gujarat gave importance to the girls, provided special importance to the educated girls. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao – they made an effort and sent a good message. I congratulate the imagination of these two states and also congratulate all those girls who got the opportunity to host the flag. Last year in Haryana something even unique happened, the families wherein a girl child was born was invited as special guest and given the seat in the first row as a VIP. This was a huge moment of pride in itself and I am happy for the fact that I started ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ from Haryana where as the sex-ratio worsened. The number of girl child went down in proportion to thousand males. It was a huge concern as social balance was in danger. And when I picked Haryana, many of our officers told me to do away with that, saying there was a huge negative atmosphere in the state. But I persisted and today I greet Haryana from the bottom of my heart for accepting this proposal and now the birth of girls is growing at a very rapid pace there. I truly welcome the change brought in the social life there.

In the last edition of Mann Ki Baat I talked about two things. First, why don’t we, being citizens, clean the statues of great personalities? We get very emotional to build statues, but get careless thereafter. And the second thing that I told was, when there is a Republic Day, how can we then put emphasis on duties and discuss it? There have been plenty of discussions on rights and will continue to happen. But there should also be discussions on the duties. I am happy that people from many places, social organizations, educational institutions, few saints came forward to clean the statues and their premises. It has been a good start, and this is not only a Swachta Abhiyan, it also is Samman Abhiyan. I am not mentioning about everyone here, but the news that has been received is highly satisfying. Few people perhaps do not give information due to hesitation. I urge all those people to send photos of the statues cleaned by them on the portal MyGov.in as people from around the world can see that and feel honored.

In the same way I asked for views on ‘Duties and Rights’ on January 26 and I am happy that thousands of people participated in it.

My dear countrymen, I need a help from you and I believe that you will come along with me.A lot is being said in the name of farmers in our country. Well, I don’t want to embroil into this controversy. However, the biggest crisis of farmers is the sheer waste of their efforts in the natural disaster. His year goes waste. There is only one solution that is to provide security to farmers and that is Fasal Beema Yojana. Government of India has given a very big gift to the farmers in 2016 – ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana’. But this is not meant to praise the scheme and the Prime Minister. Even though discussions have been happening on crop insurance for so many years, not more than 20-25 per cent of the farmers across the country have become its beneficiary and get connected with the same. Can we pledge to reach out to at least 50 percent of the country’s farmers with the crop insurance over the next 1-2 years. I need your help in this exercise. If a farmer gets linked to the crop insurance scheme, he gets a big help in the times of crisis. Let me tell you, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana has got a lot of public acceptance as it is very comprehensive, simple and with technological inputs. And not only this, even if something happens within 15 days of crop harvesting, even then assurances for support is provided. Focus has been on using the technology to fast track it and ensure there is no delay in receiving the insurance claims. On the top of it, the insurance premium rate has been slashed to its lowest level which no one would have ever thought of. In the new insurance scheme for the farmers, the maximum limit of premium would be 2 percent for kharif and 1.5 percent for the rabi crops. And tell me, if any of my farmer brothers is deprived of the scheme, then will it be damaging for him or not? You may not be a farmer, but must be listening to Mann ki Baat. Will you make my voice reach the farmers? And therefore I want that you promote it the most. And for this, I have also brought a new scheme. I want that my talks regarding Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana reaches the masses. And it is right that you are listening to my Mann Ki Baat on TV and radio. But what if you have to listen to it later? Here is gift from my side, you can listen to my Mann Ki Baat on mobile phone at anytime. All you have to do is just give a missed call from your mobile phone. The number kept for Mann Ki Baat is 8190881908, eight one nine zero eight, eight one nine zero eight. Just give a missed call and you will be able to listen to Maan Ki Baat whenever you want to. As of now, it is in Hindi. But very soon, you would get the opportunity to listen to Mann Ki Baat in your mother tongue. I will arrange for this as well. My dear youngsters, you have done a commendable job. I experienced new energy, new consciousness, new zeal and new vigour during the start-up program, which was held on January 16. Lakhs of people had registered to attend this event. However due to space constraint, the program was eventually held in Vigyan Bhawan. Many of you couldn’t make it, but we ensured that you are able to participate in the event for the entire day online. It is rare to find that a program keeps lakhs of young people engaged for so many hours, but it happened. And I was a witness to the kind of excitement start-ups has. There is a misconception among the people that start-up means IT related talks, very sophisticated business. The start-up event cleared this misconception Let me tell you- Start-up around IT is a small part. Life is big, needs are endless. Start-up also brings innumerable opportunities.

I visited Sikkim few days ago. Sikkim has now become an organic state and I had invited the country’s agriculture ministers and secretaries there. I got the chance to meet two young individuals there who have studied from IIM. One is Anurag Agarwal and other is Sidhi Karnani. They have ventured towards start-up and met me in Sikkim. They work in agriculture field in North East and do the global marketing of herbal and organic produce. That’s a great job.

Last time, I told people associated with start-up to narrate their experiences and send it to me on ‘Narendra Modi App’. Many have sent, but I will be delighted if many more people come forward. Let me tell you, the narratives which I have received so far, are truly inspiring. There is young guy named, Vishwas Dwivedi He has an online kitchen start-up and he undertakes the work of transporting tiffins to the middle class people, who have gone out for jobs, through online networking. Then there is one Dignesh Pathak. He has made up his mind to work for the farmers, especially the animal feed. If our animals get good feed, then we will get good milk. And if we get good milk, then the young people of our country will be powerful. Manoj Gilda, Nikhilji have started agri-storage start-up. They are developing the bulk storage system for agricultural products with scientific fruits storage system. Means lots of suggestions have come. And you send more, I will feel good and if I have to talk about start-up repeatedly in my ‘Mann Ki Baat’ like I do every time for cleanliness, will do so for startups as well, as your power is our inspiration.

My dear countrymen, cleanliness is also getting associated with beauty. We kept expressing anguish against the filth for so many years, but it didn’t disappear. Now people of the country have started discussion on cleanliness, leaving behind the filth. And somewhere or the other, something or the other work is happening on cleanliness. But now, people have marched one step ahead in the initiative. They have added beauty with cleanliness. In a way, this is doubly beneficial, and it is especially seen at the railway stations. I see that many local people, local artists, students are engaged in decorating the railway stations of their cities. Keeping the local art at the centre, painting the walls, making artistic sign boards with content to keep people aware, and so many other things being undertaken by the people. Someone told me that the tribal women have decrorated the Hazaribagh station with the local Sohrai and Kohbar Art design. Over 300 volunteers of Thane district decorated the King Circle, Matunga, Borivali, Khar stations. Many news are coming from Rajasthan; Sawai Madhopur, Kota. It seems that our railway stations in themselves will become the identity of our tradition. Nobody will search tea and pakoda walas through the windows. Sitting on the train, on the walls one can see the specialty of the place. This was neither the initiative of the Railways nor Narendra Modi. This was the people’s initiative. See when people do, and how well they do. I see that I have got some pictures, but I want to see many more pictures. Can you, who have take some effort of cleaning along with decoration on railway station or other places, send me the pictures? Do send those. I will definitely see, people will also see and others will also get inspiration. And whatever can happen on the railway station, can happen on the bus station, hospitals, schools, near temples, churchs, mosques, gardens etc. Whoever brought this thought, started and promoted it, deserves a compliment. But yes, do send me the photos, I also want to see what you have done.

My dear countrymen, it is a matter of pride that India is hosting a major event from 4th to 8th of February. The entire world is coming and our navy is making a whole hearted effort to become a good host. Warships, naval ships of many countries are gathering at the coastal region of Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. International Fleet Review is happening on the coastal region of India. This is an effort to ensure rapport between us and world’s military power. This is a joint exercise. It is a very big opportunity. In the coming days, you will get to know about this through TV media as it will be a very big programme and everyone will emphasize on it. This is very important for a country like India, which has a golden coastal history. They say sea as Udhi or Sagar in Sanskrit. This means endless sufficency. Borders and land may be separating us, but water connects us, sea connects us. We can connect ourselves with sea, we can connect with anyone by sea. And our ancestors made the introduction of this power by roaming around the world, doing global trade. Be it Chatrapati Shivaji, Chola Dynasty which made a new identity with Naval power. Even today, there are many states where several cultures associated with sea exists and are celebrated with zest. When the world is becoming our guest, the power of the navy is getting introduced, this is a good opportunity. I will also get the fortune to be present on this global event.

In the similar way, South Asian Federation games involving SAARC nations is going to be held in Guwahati. Thousands of SAARC countries’ players are coming to the land of Guwahati. There is an atmosphere and excitement of sports. A grand celebration from the new generation of SAARC countries is happening on the land of Guwahati in Assam. This also is a good opportunity to make relations with the SAARC countries.

My dear countrymen, I had even said earlier that whatever comes to mind, I want to express it with you openly. Final Examinations for grade 10th and 12th will be conducted in the coming days. Last time I had shared my views with the students regarding the examinations. It is my wish that the students who have got the success share their experiences, how they have spent the tension-free days of examination, they can write to me regarding the atmosphere in family, roles played by teachers and elders, efforts made by them, any tips or suggestions and role played by the seniors. You must have had good experiences. This time you can send your experiences on Narendra Modi App. And I will request the media to promote the good things through their medium so that the students all over the country can read, watch on TV and appear in the exams in a tension-free atmosphere. I believe that media friends will definitely cooperate in this regard. Yes, but they will do only when you write to me. You will send, right? Please do send.

Many many thanks, friends. We will meet again for the next Mann Ki Baat next month. Many thanks.

Fellow citizens, Namaskar to all. This will be the last edition of Mann ki Baat in 2015. The next edition of Mann ki Baat will be in 2016. We celebrated Christmas and preparations are now on to ring in the New Year.

India is land of diversities.. We celebrate a whole lot of festivals. One is not done with one festival, in the mean time the second one comes along. In a way one festival leaves us waiting for another. At times it feels India is one such country which has a ‘festival driven economy’. It becomes a source of the economic activities for even the poor sections of the society. Greetings from my end for a Merry Christmas to all Indians and I also wish you all a Happy New Year. May 2016 usher in lots of joys in your lives. I hope that new zeal, new excitement and new pledges may take you to new heights. May the world be free of crises, be it from terrorism, from global warming or from natural calamities or manmade tragedies. There can be no greater happiness than the humanity having a peaceful existence.

You are aware that I use a lot of technology which provides me lots of information. I keep a watchful eye on my portal “My Gov”.
Mr. Ganesh V. Savleshwarkar has written to me from Pune that this season is a tourist season. A large number of foreign and domestic tourists travel across the country. People also travel to celebrate Christmas vacations. He says most of the facilities related to tourism are catered to but special emphasis should be laid on cleanliness at all places which are tourist destinations or famed tourist places, religious destinations or stay over’s. India’s image will be enhanced if the tourist destinations are clean. I appreciate the views of Ganesh jee and convey this message to the people of our country. We say, “Atithi devo bhava” and just imagine how we strive to keep our homes neat and clean when a guest is due to arrive. In a similar manner, the onus is on us to maintain our tourist destinations and pilgrim tourism sites neat and clean. I am very happy that a lot of news stories related to cleanliness keep appearing in the media space. From day one, I have thanked our media friends since they have brought many such small and good success stories before the people. I have come across a nice story in the newspaper and I would like to narrate it with the fellow citizens.

Dileep Singh Malviya is an elderly artisan from Bhojpura village in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh. He is a mason by profession to earn his livelihood. He did something so different that the newspapers printed his story. And when it came to my notice, I wanted to share this story with you. Hailing from a small village, Dileep Singh Malviya decided that if anyone provides materials for toilet in the village, he will render his labour services free of cost. And hats off to him, he has constructed 100 toilets in Bhojpura village so far taking it as a divine cause and providing his labour services without charging a penny. My heartfelt congratulations to Dileep Singh Malviya for his earnest efforts. Sometimes we hear disappointing news about our nation. But there are thousands of people like Dileep Singh who are doing something good for the nation on their own. This is the power of the nation. This is the hope of the nation and these are the things which carry the nation forward and it is natural that we applaud Dileep Singh and his efforts in Mann ki Baat.

Due to tireless efforts of many people the nation is making rapid progress. 125 crores Indians are not only marching together but they are taking the country forward too. Better education, best talent and new opportunities of employment are being created. Be it providing insurance cover to citizens or providing them banking facilities, be it the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the world horizon or making facilities available for new businesses, we have done it all. People from normal backgrounds who could not step inside banks can now avail loan facilities from the “Mudra Yojana.”

Every Indian is proud to know how the world is accepting and getting attracted towards Yoga. When the world celebrated “International Yoga Diwas” and the entire world got associated with it, we became proud of our country. Such emotions arise when we see the enormity of our nation. No one can forget the story of Krishna and Yashoda where he opened his mouth and the mother was able to see the entire universe, and then only his power could be realized. The Yoga incident was a similar reminder.

The concept of cleanliness is being echoed in every household. The participation of citizens is also increasing. Many villages receive an electric pole after so many years of Independence. Those of us who live in cities and are so accustomed to using electricity that we don’t realize the extent of happiness and excitement when darkness is removed from our lives. The power department of the state and Indian government were functional earlier as well but from the day 1000 day target to provide electricity to every village has been set, we get news everyday that power supply is available in some or the other village and the happiness of the inhabitants’ knows no bounds. The media has not discussed this topic. But I am sure that media will definitely reach such villages and will inform the nation about the happiness and excitement of the people there.

The biggest achievement of this task is that the government officials involved in this task will have immense satisfaction that they have done something which will bring about such a big change in the lives of the people and the village itself. Be it the farmers, poor, young or women, should such things reach them or not? Such news should reach them not to highlight any government’s achievement, but to make them aware of their rights. They should not let go if it is their right. People should get information in order to avail their rights. We should all make efforts that right information, good information and information useful to the common man should reach as many people as possible. This is also a kind of service. I too have tried to do this work from my end. I cannot do everything alone by myself. But if I am saying then I should at least do something. Even a common man can download the Narendra Modi App and get connected to me. And I can share these small things with you through the app. And it is a matter of happiness for me that people share all the things with me. You too get connected with this initiative, we have to reach 125 crore Indians. How will I reach without your help? Come, let us collectively do such things of interest for the common man in their language and inspire them to avail things which are their rights.

My dear young friends, I had some preliminary discussions about “Start-up India, Stand-up India” in my speech on 15th August from the Red Fort. After that all government departments started discussing it. Can India become a “Start-up Capital’? Can our states work together for new Start-ups for youth, and encourage innovations with start-ups, be it in the manufacturing sector, service sector or agriculture. Everything should be new, new ways and new thinking – after all the world does not move ahead without innovation. “Start-up India, Stand-up India” brings in a huge opportunity for the young generation. My dear young friends, the government will launch the entire action plan for “Start-up India, Stand-up India on 16th January. What it will be, how it will be and why it will be? You will be presented with a structure. In this program all the IIT’s, IIM’s, Central Universities, NIT’s, wherever there is young generation, they will be brought together via live connectivity.

There is an established thinking regarding the Start-ups that they are meant only for the digital world or the IT profession. This is not true at all; we need to modify it according to the needs of India. For example, when a poor person works somewhere as a labourer and there is a lot of physical effort involved but if a young man innovates something which can reduce the physical effort and help the labourer- I will call it as a Start-up. I will ask the bank to help such an individual and I will tell him to move ahead with courage. You will get the Market. Similarly is the intellectual wealth limited to a few selected cities or what? This thinking is wrong. The Indian youth all over the country has talent, all they need is opportunities. This “Start-up India, Stand-up India” should not be limited to a few cities only. It should spread to every corner of India. And I will request the state governments to take this forward. I will definitely interact with you on 16th January and will discuss this in detail. Your suggestions are always welcome.

Dear young friends, 12th January is the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. There are thousands like me who draw inspiration from him. Since 1995, 12th January, the birth Anniversary of Vivekananda is celebrated as the National Youth Festival. This year it will be organized from 12-16th January in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh. This is a theme based event and I have got the information that this time they have a very good theme and that is “Indian Youth on Development Skill and Harmony”. I have been told that 10,000 young people will gather from all over India. A mini-India will be created there. They will share dreams together. A feeling of determination will be experienced. Can you give me suggestions regarding this youth festival? I would request the youth to send me their suggestions directly on the “Narendra Modi App”. I want to gain an insight into your understanding. And that it gets reflected in the Youth Festival, for that I will give the government reasonable suggestions and information. So I will wait dear friends for your suggestions on the youth festival on the “Narendra Modi App”.

Dilip Chauhan, from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, who is a visually challenged teacher, celebrated ‘Accessible India Day’ in his school. He called me up to express his feelings:
“Sir, we celebrated Accessible India Campaign in our school. I am a visually challenged teacher and I addressed 2000 children on the issue of disability and how we can spread awareness and help differently-abled people. And the students’ response was fantastic, we enjoyed in the school and the students were inspired and motivated to help the disabled people in the society. I think it was a great initiative by you.”
Dilip ji, thank you very much. You are yourself working in this field. You understand everything and you must have faced a lot of difficulties too. Sometimes when we meet someone with different ability in the society then a lot of things come to our mind. We express our perception of him based on our thinking. There are some people who lose a limb or body part in an accident. Some people are born with some defects. And for these people different terms are used and a lot of thought goes on behind the usage of these terms. All the time people feel that this kind of identification does not sound nice and respectable. At some point we heard handicapped, then it was disabled and somewhere it is specially-abled, so many terms have been used. It is true that words have their own significance. This year when the government of India started the ‘Sugamya India’ programme, I was supposed to attend it, but could not make it, because of severe floods in Chennai and other areas of Tamil Nadu. However, since I had to attend that program some thoughts kept coming in my mind. That time, I thought that we call or know those people as handicapped since they are lacking in some ways in terms of their body structure or whose organs do not function properly. However, at times when we interact with them, we realize that we see only the deficits with our eyes but God has certainly bestowed them with some extra powers. God has bestowed upon them some different power which we cannot see with our eyes, but it is only when we see them working do we realize their talent. We think O Great! Look how he works. So I thought that upon looking at them with our eyes we feel that they are handicapped, but experiences tell us that they have some extra power. So I thought why not use the term ‘Divyang’ instead of ‘viklang’ in our country. They are those people who have one or more such organs which have divinity, where divine power flows which we normal bodied people do not have. I like this term. My dear countrymen can we make it a habit to use the word ‘Divyang’ and make it popular. I hope that you will take this forward.

That day we started the ‘Sugamya Bharat’ campaign. Under this campaign we will improve both the physical and virtual infrastructure and make it accessible for the ‘Divyang’ people. Be it schools, hospitals, government offices, bus depots, railway stations, everywhere ramps, accessible parking, accessible lifts, Braille, many amenities will be made available. To make things Sugamya – we need innovation, we need technology, we need systems and we also need empathy from people. We have taken the initiative. We are receiving public participation too. People like it. You too can join in the manner you deem fit.
My dear countrymen, the government schemes will continue exist and run, but it is necessary that these schemes always remain operational. The schemes should be operational till the last mile individual has benefitted from them. They should not have a dead existence in government files. After all, these schemes are meant for common man, the poor people. In the past few days the government has made an effort to ensure that the benefits of schemes reach out to the rightful owners. In our country, we give subsidy for the gas cylinders. Crores of rupees were spent on it but we did not know if it reached the right people or not, if this subsidy reached people on time or not? The Government has made some changes in the scheme. The government undertook the largest ‘Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme’ to provide subsidy directly in the bank accounts of the beneficiaries with the help of ‘Jan Dhan Account’ or ‘Aadhar Card’ etc. I am happy to share with the countrymen that this scheme has earned a place in Guinness Book of World Records as the largest Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme which has been implemented successfully. This scheme is known as ‘Pahal’ and this experiment has been very successful. Till November end, around 15 crore LPG customers have become its beneficiaries. The government money is being directly transferred to the accounts of 15 crore beneficiaries. No middlemen nor any recommendation, nor any possibility of corruption. On one hand was the Aadhar Card Scheme, and on the other was the Jan Dhan Account. Thirdly the state and Indian government compiled the lists of beneficiaries. That was connected to account and Aadhar. This work is still in progress. Nowadays, even the MNREGA scheme, which provides employment opportunities in villages, is being connected to it. There were lots of complaints about this scheme. In many places the wages of the labourers is now being directly transferred into their accounts. There were complaints about student scholarships too; they too are being transferred into their accounts. This has been started and will be gradually taken forward. Till now around 40,000 crore rupees are directly reaching the beneficiaries through various schemes. According to my rough estimate, around 35-40 schemes are now under ‘Direct Benefit Transfer.’

My dear countrymen, 26th January is the golden moment in the life of Indian democracy. This is a beautiful co-incidence that Baba Saheb Ambedkar, the maker of the Indian Constitution, his 125th birth anniversary will be celebrated this year. We organized a two day special discussion on the constitution and it was a very good experience. All the parties and all the members deliberated on the sanctity of the constitution, its importance to understand the true interpretation of the constitution. It was an excellent discussion. We should take this thing forward. Can Republic Day be an opportunity to connect the masses with the system? Our constitution grants us several rights and there are many discussions on it and it should be so and it is equally important. But constitution equally emphasizes on duty also. But it is seen that duties are hardly discussed. At the most, whenever there are elections, then we see advertisement all around us, they write on the walls and hoardings are put to tell that to vote is our sacred duty. There is a lot of talk about duties during elections, but why not discuss our duties in general life too. This year when we are celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar then can we make 26th January a medium to organize debates, poetry, slogan competition regarding duties in our own schools, colleges, villages, cities and various organizations and societies. If 125 crore Indians take dutiful steps one after the other, they can make history. But at least let’s start with discussions. I have an idea – Send me an essay or poem before 26th January about duty in Hindi or English or your native language. Can you send me? I want to know your views. Send them on my portal ‘My Gov”. I would like to know what my young generation thinks about their duties.

I want to give a small suggestion. On 26th January we celebrate Republic Day. Can we citizens and school and college students take up the initiative of cleaning the statue of any great men installed in our city, of cleaning the premises, we can do best of cleanliness and best of decoration on the occasion of 26th January. And I am not saying this on government lines. We become so emotional about getting the statues of great men erected but become equally complacent when it comes to maintaining them. As a society, as a nation can we make it a natural tendency to respect the statues of our great men? On this 26th January let us make an effort that we will respect such great men and keep the premises clean. But this should be done by the citizens willfully.
Dear Countrymen, greetings to you for a Happy New Year 2016. Thank You Very Much!