linking the intense heatwave and drought to environmental degradation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his radio programme Mann ki Baat on Sunday made a strong pitch for a mass movement to save forests and conserve “every drop” of water during the upcoming monsoon season. He also talked about some other issues, like the need for moving towards a cashless society for transparency and curbing black money.
During the 30-minute broadcast, the Prime Minister also urged the countrymen to practise Yoga for a illness-free life and said that on International Yoga Day on June 21, he would join a programme in Chandigarh.
Referring to the intense heatwave being witnessed in the country, he said concerns increased a few days ago when news came in that monsoon could be delayed by a week beyond June 1. “Most parts of the country are experiencing a intense heatwave. Be it humans, birds or animals, all are troubled... It is only because of environment that such problems continue to increase. Depletion of forests has been going on, trees continue to be cut. In a way, humankind itself destroyed the environment and put itself on the path of destruction,” he said.
He mentioned the recent cases of fire in forests of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, and said the root cause of such incidents is that there are dry leaves and human carelessness.
“That is why, saving forests and conserving water becomes everybody’s responsibility,” Modi said while underlining the need for saving “every drop” of water, which he described as “God’s prasad”.
“I urge the countrymen, let us decide that we will not let even a drop of water go waste during June, July, August and September (comprising monsoon season)... The issue of water concerns not only the farmers but everybody... The rainy season is coming… Start the preparations now to see where to save water,” he said.
“I urge you. Do not let this (monsoon) season go. In the coming four months, a mass movement in the form of ‘Save Water Abhiyan’ is needed to save every drop of water. And this task is not only of the Governments or politicians but that of the common masses,” he said, seeking contribution from the media too in this endeavour.
Emphasising that saving water should be a priority for the countrymen, the Prime Minister questioned how a situation can be allowed to persist wherein water is wasted during monsoon and later there is problem of scarcity. “Even if one drop of water is wasted, it should pain us,” he said.
While talking about water scarcity, he referred to his meetings with Chief Ministers of drought-hit States -- Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha. He said he had departed from the past tradition of holding a common meeting with the Chief Ministers and decided to meet them separately to give individual attention to each of them.
“Whichever party may be in Government in any State, it was emphasised that permanent solutions are required to deal with this problem which has been going on long. The focus (of these meetings) was how to have lasting solutions,” Modi said. Describing it as a “learning experience” for him, he said he had asked Niti Aayog to study the “best practices” of various States so that those could be replicated in all the States.
The Prime Minister talked about the results of CBSE board examinations declared recently. In this context, he urged parents to not pressurise their children to get more and more marks.
“Dissatisfaction is a reflection of negative mindset...Dissatisfaction can lead to failures... Accept whatever result has come, welcome it and move forward.... life does not stop because of bad marks...The most important thing is not to lose confidence,” he said, while giving examples of two students whose parents were not satisfied even after they obtained over 89 per cent marks.
He spoke about the Government’s steps in this direction like introducing Jandhan, Aaadhar and Mobile phone banking (JAM). He also mentioned ‘POS’ (Point of Sale) instrument and ‘RuPay’ mechanism of making payments. Pitching for cashless transactions, he said, “It will bring transparency... The impact of black money will reduce.”
The Prime Minister also referred to the upcoming Rio Olympic Games and asked the countrymen to contribute to encourage the participants from India. “An environment should be created to encourage the Indian participants... Everybody should contribute in his own way... Whatever may be the results. It is sports after all… One may win or lose but the spirits should be high,” he said.