NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a brainstorming session with chief ministers of all states to finalise ideas for the programmes to be held to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Modi, in a letter to chief ministers, has stated that the government would be organising various programmes in the current year to mark the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
“The 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation will be celebrated in 2019. We shall use the preceding year i.e. is 2018, to rededicate ourselves, through our actions, to the ideals that the Mahatma Gandhi taught and lived by. We also aim to bring the Mahatma’s message alive for the generations across the world that have not the privilege of living during his lifetime,” Modi wrote in a letter to chief ministers, a copy of which is with The New Indian Express.
The PM, while stating that the first meeting has been scheduled for May 2, expressed hope of a vibrant exchange of ideas on the year long programme. “The committee is mandated to consider policies and lay down guidelines for the commemoration, and to decide on the time frame for the commemoration related activities,” Modi further stated in the letter.
The PM had set the task to ensure all villages in the country become open defecation free, besides providing access to electricity to all villages, by 2019 when the country celebrates the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi. The Modi government has also set the target to cover 50 per cent of farmers under Pradahan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna by 2019. The NDA government at the Centre has also set the target to eliminate the enrolment gap for scheduled castes and tribal children by 2019.