NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged his compatriots to protect nature, saying rains were causing havoc as humankind had chosen the path of conflict with nature and consequently earned her wrath.“And that is why it becomes our collective responsibility.
Let us be lovers of nature, protectors of nature, conservers of nature, and thus ensure spontaneous balance in her myriad bounty,” said the PM in his Mann Ki Baat radio programme.
He mentioned the recent case of 18 teenagers getting trapped in a Thai cave as an example of nature’s fury.
“The world over, people prayed for the safe and secure exit of these children. No stone was left unturned to trace their whereabouts, their well-being and their rescue. Their timely evacuation was of prime concern, since the heavy monsoon would have delayed rescue attempts by a few months,” he said.
The PM also recalled Hindi poet Gopal Das Neeraj who passed way recently.
“Neeraj ji was blessed with a special quality. it was a combination of hope, faith, a firm resolve and self-confidence. Every word of Neerajji’s work can instil a lot of strength and inspiration in us Indians,” he said.
He mentioned how Asharam Choudhury a student from an extremely poor family in Madhya Pradesh who overcame many challenges to achieve success and in his maiden attempt passed the entrance exam for doing the MBBS course at AIIMS, Jodhpur. “There are many such instances of students from deprived families who, through sheer determination and perseverance, overcame all odds and stood out to be beacons of inspiration to others.
Examples such as Prince Kumar of Delhi, whose father is a DTC bus driver, Abhay Gupta of Kolkata, who studied on the foothpath under street lights, Afreen Sheikh of Ahmedabad, whose father drives an autorickshaw, Nagpur’s daughter Khushi, whose father is a school bus driver, Karthik of Haryana, whose father is a watchman, or Ramesh Sahu of Jharkhand, whose father is a brick-kiln labourer, or Gurgaon’s divyang angel Anushka Panda, who suffers from a hereditary disorder called spinal muscular atrophy, all of them overcame each and every obstacle through their firm resolve and zeal, attaining success for the world to see,” said the PM.
The PM also praised two IT professionals who have developed an app that connects villagers with the outside world.