Cricket in Pulwama, Pratibha Setu and Swadeshi push: Full text of PM Modi’s Mann Ki Baat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressed the nation in the 125th episode of his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat.

Expressing sorrow over the widespread devastation caused by incessant monsoon rains across parts of India, he also touched upon a range of pressing issues.

PM Modi highlighted the country’s first Khelo India Water Sports Festival held at Dal Lake in Srinagar, and praised the ‘Pratibha Setu’ portal for giving thousands of UPSC aspirants a second chance. He further underscored the growing landscape of sports in India while reflecting on the resilience and aspirations of the nation.

Here is the full text of PM Modi’s Mann Ki Baat:

My dear countrymen, Namaskar. In this monsoon season, natural disasters are testing the country. During the last few weeks, we have witnessed grave devastation caused by floods and landslides. At places, homes were destroyed; at others, fields were submerged; families were ruined en masse, elsewhere, bridges were swept away amid the strong flow of water; roads were washed away; people’s lives were enmeshed in danger. These incidents have saddened every Indian. The pain of the families who lost their loved ones is our shared pain. Wherever the crisis struck, our NDRF-SDRF personnel, other security forces, everyone toiled day and night to save the people there. The soldiers have also availed of the aid of technology. With the help of myriad modern resources such as thermal cameras, life detectors, sniffer dogs and drone surveillance, a lot of efforts were undertaken to lend speed to the relief work. During this time, relief material was delivered by helicopters; the injured were airlifted. In the moment of disaster, the army came forward to help. Local people, social workers, doctors, the administration… everyone made every possible effort in this hour of crisis. I express heartfelt gratitude to every citizen who has kept humanity above everything else during this testing time.

My dear countrymen, amidst this devastation of floods and rains, Jammu and Kashmir has also attained two very special achievements. Not many people noticed them, but when you will come to know about those achievements, you will be extremely delighted. A record number of people gathered in a stadium in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. Pulwama’s first ever day-night cricket match was played here.

Earlier this was impossible, but now my country is transforming. This match is a part of the ‘Royal Premier League’, in which different teams of Jammu and Kashmir are playing. Thousands of enthusiasts, especially youth, enjoying cricket at night in Pulwama… it was truly a sight to behold. Friends, the second event that caught attention was the first Khelo India Water Sports Festival in the country and that too was held at Dal Lake in Srinagar. Truly, what a special place that is to organize such a festival. Its objective is to make water sports more popular in Jammu and Kashmir. More than 800 athletes from all over India participated in it. Women athletes were also not far behind… their participation was also almost at par with men. I would like to congratulate all the players who participated in it. Special congratulations to Madhya Pradesh, which won the maximum number of medals, followed by Haryana and Odisha. I deeply appreciate the warmth and hospitality of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and the people there.

Friends, to bring to you the experience of this event, I have thought of talking to two players who participated in it… one of them is Rashmita Sahu from Odisha and the other is Mohsin Ali from Srinagar. Let us listen to what they have to say.

Prime Minister: Rashmita ji, Namaste!

Rashmita: Namaste Sir.

Prime Minister: Jai Jagannath.

Rashmita: Jai Jagannath Sir.

Prime Minister: Rashmita ji, first of all congratulations to you for your success in the world of sports.

Rashmita: Thank you Sir.

Prime Minister: Rashmita, our listeners are very keen to know about you and your sports journey… I am also very eager… tell me!

Rashmita: Sir, I am Rashmita Sahu… from Odisha. And I am a canoeing player. I joined sports in 2017. I started canoeing and I have participated at the National level, National Championship and National Games. I have 41 medals. 13 Gold, 14 Silver and 14 Bronze Medals, Sir.

Prime Minister: How did you develop interest in this sport? Who first inspired you towards this? Is there a sports environment in your family?

Rashmita: No sir. The village I come from had no sports. Boating was going on in the river, so I went for swimming. I and my friends were swimming and there was a boat for canoeing-kayaking, I did not know anything about it. So I asked my friend “what is this?” So my friend told me that there is SAI Sports Centre in Jagatpur; sports are organised there, I am also going to go there. I found it very interesting. So what is this, I did not even know, how do kids do this in water? Do boating? I told him that I also wanted to go. How do I go? Tell me also? She told me to go there and talk. Then I immediately went home and said Papa, I want to go, Papa, I have to go. Then Papa said okay; he took me there. There was no trial at that time. Then the coaches said that the trial is held in February, so you should come during the trial in February or March. Then I came during the trial.

Prime Minister: Ok Rashmita, how was your own experience at the Khelo India Water Sports Festival held in Kashmir? You went to Kashmir for the first time?

Rashmita: Yes Sir, I went to Kashmir for the first time. Khelo India, First ‘Khelo India Water Sports Festival’ was organized there. I had two events in it. Singles 200 meter and 500 meter doubles. And I have won gold medals in both Sir.

Prime Minister: Oh wow! You won both!

Rashmita: Yes Sir.

Prime Minister: Many congratulations.

Rashmita: Thank you Sir.

Prime Minister: Well Rashmita, apart from water sports, what are your hobbies?

Rashmita: Sir, apart from water sports, I like running the most. Whenever I go on vacation, I go for running. I had learnt to play football at my old field, so whenever I go there, I run a lot and I also play football, a little bit Sir.

Prime Minister: So sports runs in your veins!

Rashmita: Yes Sir, when I was in school from 1st class to 10th class, I used to be 1st in every event I participated in, I used to be a champion Sir.

Prime Minister: Rashmita, if you have to give a message to those who want to progress in sports like you, what would that be?

Rashmita: Sir, many children are not even allowed to step out of their homes, and being a girl, “how will you go out”… and some are leaving sports because of exam issues… and in this Khelo India scheme, many children are getting financial help and many children are getting a lot of help, due to which many children are able to move ahead. And I would tell everyone not to leave sports, you can go a long way with sports. Sports is sports  but it also keeps every part of the body healthy and it is our duty to take sports forward and get medals for India, Sir.

Prime Minister: Well, Rashmita Ji, I felt very good. Once again, many many congratulations to you and please convey my regards to your father also because he gave so much encouragement to a daughter to move forward in the midst of so many difficulties. My best wishes are with you. Thank you.

Rashmita: Thank you Sir.

Prime Minister: Jai Jagannath.

Rashmita: Jai Jagannath Sir.

Prime Minister: – Mohsin Ali Namaste!

Mohsin Ali: – Namaste Sir.

Prime Minister: – Mohsin Ji, many congratulations to you and best wishes for your bright future.

Mohsin Ali: – Thank you Sir.

Prime Minister: – Mohsin, the first ever Khelo India Water Sports, its festival… and the first ever Gold Medal in that!  And you won that. How did you feel?

Mohsin Ali – Sir, I am very happy. I won a Gold Medal in Khelo India, which has happened for the first time here, in Kashmir.

Prime Minister: – What is the discussion among the people?

Mohsin Ali – There is a lot of talk Sir, the whole family is happy.

Prime Minister: – Your schoolmates?

Mohsin Ali – Everyone in school is also happy… in Kashmir, everyone says that you are a Gold Medalist.

Prime Minister: – So you have become a big celebrity now.

Mohsin Ali – Yes Sir!

Prime Minister: – Well, how did you develop an interest in water sports and what benefits do you see in it?

Mohsin Ali – In my childhood, I saw a boat sailing in Dal lake; my father asked me if I would do it, yes, I am also interested in it, then I went to the centre to meet madam, then madam taught me… Bilquis mam.

Prime Minister: – Well, Mohsin, people from all over the country had come, for the first time a water sports program was organized and that too took place in Srinagar, that too in Dal lake, so many people came from all over the country. How did the people there feel?

Mohsin Ali – I am very happy Sir, everyone is saying that it is a good place, everything is good here, the facilities are good. Everything was good here in Khelo India.

Prime Minister: – So have you ever gone outside Kashmir for sports?

Mohsin Ali – Yes Sir, I have been to Bhopal, Goa, Kerala, Himachal.

Prime Minister: – Well then you have seen the whole of India.

Mohsin Ali – Yes Sir

Prime Minister: – So…so many players had come there!

Mohsin Ali – Yes Sir

Prime Minister: – So did you make new friends or not?

Mohsin Ali – Sir, I made a lot of friends, we also roamed around together here in Dal Lake, Lal Chowk, we roamed around the whole place, we went to Pahalgam also; yes sir we also went around the entire place.

Prime Minister: – Look, I have seen that the sports talent in Jammu and Kashmir is amazing.

Mohsin Ali – Yes Sir

Prime Minister: – Our youth of Jammu and Kashmir should bring glory to the country, they have so much potential and you have proved it.

Mohsin Ali – Sir, my dream is to win a medal in Olympics, that is my dream.

Prime Minister: – Wow, well done!

Mohsin Ali – That exactly is my dream Sir

Prime Minister: – Look, I got goosebumps just by hearing that from you.

Mohsin Ali – Sir, that is my dream, to win a medal in Olympics. To get the national anthem played for the country, that is my only dream.

Prime Minister: – The son of a labourer family of my country dreams so big, it means this country is going to progress a lot.

Mohsin Ali – Sir, it is going to progress a lot. We are thankful to the Government of India who has organized Khelo India here… it has happened here for the first time sir.

Prime Minister: – That is why they must be cheering you in your school.

Mohsin Ali – Yes Sir.

Prime Minister: – Ok Mohsin, I really enjoyed talking to you and please convey my special thanks to your father. Because he made your life by living the life of a labourer and on your father’s words, you have worked hard for 10 years without resting. This is a great inspiration for a player and I also congratulate your coach who worked so hard to train you. My best wishes, many congratulations Bhaiya.

Mohsin Ali – Thank you sir, Namaskar Sir, Jai Hind!

Friends, the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat-Shrestha Bharat’; the unity of the country, is very important for the development of the country and certainly, sports play a big role in it. And that is why I say that the one who plays, blooms. The more tournaments our country plays, the more it will flourish. My best wishes to both you players and your colleagues.

My dear countrymen, you must have heard the name of UPSC. This institution conducts the Civil Services exam, one of the toughest exams in the country. All of us have heard many inspiring stories from the toppers of the Civil Services. These youngsters study under difficult circumstances and through their hard work get a place in this service – but friends, there is another truth about the UPSC exam. There are thousands of such candidates who are very capable; their hard work is no less than anyone else’s, but they are unable to reach the final list by a small margin. These candidates have to prepare afresh for other exams. That cost both their time and money. That is why, now a digital platform has been created for such sincere students and its name is ‘Pratibha Setu’.

‘Pratibha Setu’ stores the data of those candidates who cleared all the stages of various exams of UPSC, but their name did not appear in the final merit list. There is a databank of over ten thousand such bright youngsters on this portal. Some were preparing for civil services, some wanted to join the engineering services, others had cleared every stage of the medical services but were not finally selected – information of all such candidates is now being made available on the ‘Pratibha Setu’ portal. Through this portal, private companies can obtain information on these promising students and employ them. Friends, the results of this effort have also started coming in. Hundreds of candidates have got jobs immediately with the help of this portal and those youth who had got stuck by a small margin are now moving ahead with new confidence.

My dear countrymen, today the attention of the whole world is towards India. The whole world is eyeing latent possibilities in India. I want to share a pleasant experience related to this with you. You know that podcasts are in fashion these days. Different people watch and listen to podcasts related to various subjects. Recently, I too had participated in some podcasts. One such podcast was with the world’s very famous podcaster Lex Fridman.

A lot of things were discussed in that podcast and people from all over the world listened to it. And while the podcast was being discussed, I had raised a topic in the conversation. A German sportsperson listened to that podcast and his attention was focused on what I had mentioned in it. He connected so much with that topic that he first did research on it and then contacted the Indian Embassy in Germany and wrote a letter saying that he wanted to connect with India on that topic. You must be thinking what kind of topic did Modiji talk about in the podcast – which inspired a German player… what was this topic – let me remind you, in the podcast, I had by the way described a village related to the football craze of Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh. Actually, two years ago I had gone to Shahdol and met the football players there. During the podcast, in response to a question, I had also mentioned the football players of Shahdol. The same thing was heard by German football player and coach Dietmar Beiersdorfer. The life journey of young football players of Shahdol impressed and inspired him a lot. Truly, no one had imagined that talented football players from there would attract the attention of other countries. Now this German coach has offered to train some players of Shahdol in an academy in Germany. After this, the government of Madhya Pradesh has also contacted them. Very soon some of our young friends from Shahdol will go to Germany for a training course. I am also very happy to see that the popularity of football is constantly on the rise in India. I urge football lovers to visit Shahdol whenever they get time and witness the sporting revolution happening there closely.

My dear countrymen, you will feel very happy to know about Jitendra Singh Rathore who lives in Surat. Your heart will swell with pride. Jitendra Singh Rathore is a security guard and he has undertaken a wonderful initiative which is a great inspiration for every patriot. For the last few years, he has been collecting information about all those soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in defending Mother India.

Today, he has information about thousands of brave soldiers who have been martyred since the First World War. He also has thousands of photographs of the martyrs. Once, the words of a martyr’s father touched his heart. The martyr’s father had said, “So what if my son is gone, the country is safe, isn’t it?” This one statement filled Jitendra Singh’s heart with such a wonderful passion for patriotism. Today, he is in touch with the families of many martyrs. He has also collected soil from beneath the feet of the parents of about two and a half thousand martyrs. This is a living example of his deep love and attachment towards the armed forces. Jitendra Ji’s life teaches us the true lesson of patriotism.

My dear countrymen, these days you must have often seen, solar panels shining atop the roofs of houses, on big buildings, in government offices. People now understand its importance and are adopting it with an open mind. Our country is so blessed by the Sun God… so why not make full use of the energy radiated by him.

Friends, solar power is also transforming the lives of farmers. The same farm, the same hard work, the same farmer… but now the result of such hard work is much more substantial. This change is coming through solar pumps and solar rice mills. Today hundreds of solar rice mills have been set up in many states of the country. These solar rice mills have increased the income of the farmers as well as the glow on their faces.

Friends, Devki ji of Bihar has changed the fate of her village with a solar pump. Devki ji, who lives in Ratanpura village of Muzaffarpur, is now lovingly called “Solar Didi” by people. Devki ji… her life was not easy. She got married at a young age… a small farm… responsibility of four children and no clear picture of the future. But her spirit never dampened. She joined a self help group and there she got information about the solar pump. She started efforts for a solar pump and was successful in it too. After that, Solar Didi’s solar pump changed the picture of the village.

Whereas earlier, only a few acres of land could be irrigated; now water is reaching more than 40 acres of land through Solar Didi’s solar pump. Other farmers of this village have also joined this campaign of Solar Didi. Their crops have started turning green and incomes have started rising.

Friends, earlier Devki ji’s life was confined within the four walls. But today she is doing her work with full self confidence, earning money as a Solar Didi and the most interesting thing is, that she receives payment from the farmers of the area through UPI. She is now accorded great respect in the entire village. Her hard work and foresight have shown that solar energy is not just a means of electricity, but it is also a new power that brings new light to every village.

My dear countrymen, the 15th of September is the birthday of India’s great engineer Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya ji. We celebrate that day as Engineers’ Day. Engineers do not just create machines; they are karmayogis who turn dreams into reality. I appreciate every engineer of India. I wish them all the best.

Friends, the holy occasion of the puja of Bhagwan Vishwakarma is also on its way in September. Vishwakarma Jayanti is on the 17th of September. This day is also dedicated to the Vishwakarma brethren of ours, who are continuously passing on the traditional crafts, skills and knowledge-science from one generation to the other. Our carpenters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, potters, sculptors, have always been the foundation of India’s prosperity. To help these Vishwakarma brothers of ours, the government has also launched the Vishwakarma Yojana.

Friends, I now want to play an audio recording for you.

Audio byte

(So what you have written in the certificate that whatever I did for the states or whatever our government did for Hyderabad, it was fine but you know how we handled the Hyderabad case, how difficult it was! We promised all the states, all the princes that we will not take any wrong decision for any prince or king. Everyone will be treated equally, whatever happens to everyone, they will also be treated the same. But to that extent, for them, we made a separate agreement.)

Friends, this is the voice of Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. You can feel the pain in his voice on the events of Hyderabad. Next month in September, we will also celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day. This is the same month when we will remember the courage of all those heroes who took part in ‘Operation Polo’. You all know that when India got independence in August 1947, Hyderabad was in a different situation. The atrocities of Nizam and Razakars were increasing day by day. People were slaughtered even for hoisting the tricolor or chanting ‘Vande Mataram’. Atrocities were committed on women and the poor. At that time Baba Saheb Ambedkar had also warned that this problem was becoming too big. Finally, Sardar Patel took the matter in his own hands. He convinced the government to launch ‘Operation Polo’. In record time, our forces liberated Hyderabad from the dictatorship of Nizam and made it a part of India. The whole country celebrated that success.

My dear countrymen, wherever you go in the world, you will definitely find the influence of Indian culture there and this influence is not limited just to the big cities of the world but it can also be seen in small cities. Something similar was witnessed in a small town of Italy, Camp-Rotondo. There, a statue of Maharishi Valmiki was unveiled. Many important personalities of the area including the local mayor also attended this program.

People of Indian origin living in Camp-Rotondo are very happy with the installation of the statue of Maharishi Valmiki. The messages of Maharishi Valmiki inspire all of us.

Friends, earlier this month, a 51 feet tall statue of Lord Shri Ram was also unveiled in Mississauga, Canada. People were very excited about this event. Videos of the grand statue of Lord Shri Ram were shared a lot on social media.

Friends, this love for Ramayana and Indian culture is now reaching every corner of the world. There is a famous place in Russia – Vladivostok. Many people know it as a place where the temperature falls to -20 to -30 degrees Celsius in winters. This month, a unique exhibition was held in Vladivostok. Paintings made by Russian children on different themes of Ramayana were showcased there. A competition was also organised there. It is indeed heartening to see the growing awareness of Indian culture in different parts of the world.

My dear countrymen, that’s all for this time in ‘Mann Ki Baat’. At this time, the whole country is celebrating the pomp and fervour of ‘Ganesh Utsav’. The radiance of many festivals will spread in the coming days. You should never forget about Swadeshi during these festivals. Gifts should be those made in India, Attire should be that woven in India, decor should be that made from materials made in India, Luminary items from India-made frills – and many more; everything in every need of life should be Swadeshi. Say with pride ’this is Swadeshi’, say with pride ’this is Swadeshi’, say with pride ’this is Swadeshi’. We have to move forward with this feeling. One mantra – ‘Vocal for Local’; One path – ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’; One goal – ‘Developed India’.

Friends, amidst all this joy, keep emphasizing on cleanliness, because where there is cleanliness, the joy of festivals rises even more. Friends, keep sending me your messages in large numbers like this for ‘Mann Ki Baat’. Every suggestion of yours is very important for this program. Keep sending me your feedback. Next time when we meet, we will discuss more new topics.

Thank you very much, Namaskar.

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