In Mann Ki Baat today Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said Jal Shakti Campaign is taking rapid, successful strides with the aid of public participation. He shared few extensive & innovative water conservation efforts under way, in every corner of the country.

Mentioning about Jalore district in Rajasthan He said, “There, two historical step wells had turned into storehouses of garbage & dirty water. But one fine day, hundreds of people from Bhadraayun & Thanawala Panchayats took a resolve to rejuvenate them, under the Jal Shakti Campaign. Much before the rains, people immersed themselves in the task of cleaning out the accumulated filthy water, garbage and morass. For this campaign, some donated money; others their labour & sweat. As a result, these step wells have turned into their lifelines now”.

Similarly Saraahi Lake in Barabanki Uttar Pradesh, was brought to life by the collective efforts of Villagers. Another example of Public participation is Village Suniyakot along the Almora-Haldwani Highway in Uttarakhand.  Here villagers took it upon themselves to ensure that water reached their village. People raised money, donated labour. A pipe was laid upto the village and a pumping station was set up. Thus decade old problem of water crisis was solved.

Prime Minister urged everyone to share their stories of such endeavours of water conservation and water harvesting by using #Jalshakti4India.

Jal Shakti Abhiyan – a campaign for water conservation and water security commenced last monsoon in July, 2019.  The campaign focussed on water stressed districts and blocks.

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In his Mann Ki Baat today Prime Minister congratulated the Government, the people of Assam and participants for successful conclusion of the ‘Khelo India Games’.

Prime Minister said, Khelo India games had around 6 thousand players from different states participating. 80 records were broken, and of these 80 records, 56 were broken by our daughters. He noted that in 2018, when ‘Khelo India Games’ were instituted, thirty-five hundred players took part, but in just three years the number of players has increased to more than 6 thousand, which translates to the fact that it has almost doubled.

Prime Minister in Mann Ki Baat today shared inspiring stories of the participant children and their parents. One among those was the story of Yogananthan of Tamil Nadu. Prime Minister said, “Yogananthan makes beedis in Tamil Nadu, but his daughter Purnashree won everyone’s heart by bagging the Gold Medal in Weight Lifting”.

He also mentioned about David who won a gold medal at the 200 meter Sprint event in cycling in Youth Games in Guwahati. David from Car-Nicobar had lost his parents while he was an infant. His uncle wanted him to become a footballer, and hence had named him after the famous footballer David Beckham. But young David was obsessed with cycling. He was selected under the ‘Khelo India’ scheme and today he has  created a new record in cycling.

He also shared the inspiring story of Kareena Shankta of Mumbai. Kareena competed in the 100 metre breast-stroke event in swimming, won the gold medal in the Under-17 category and also set a new national record. However there was a time for Kareena, a 10th standard student when she had to forego her training due to a knee injury. But Kareena and her mother did not lose courage and the result of that fortitude is evident in front of all of us today.

Prime Minister said, “We all know that National Games is an arena, where players get a chance to display their passion besides becoming acquainted with the culture of other states. Therefore, we have decided to organize ‘Khelo India University Games’ every year on the pattern of ‘Khelo India Youth Games’” .

Next month the first edition of ‘Khelo India University Games’ is being organized in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, Odisha from 22nd February to 1st March. And more than 3000 players have qualified for participating in these games.

Fit India

Prime Minister lauded the ‘Fit India School’ campaign for bringing positive results. He noted that more than 65,000 schools have obtained the ‘Fit India School’ certificates through online registration. He urged the rest of the schools in the country to integrate physical activity and sports with education and ensure that they become a ‘fit school’.

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