Chief Minister, Dr. Pramod Sawant today led the people of the State in paying tributes to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his 154th birth anniversary at the state level function held at Gandhi Chowk, Old Goa.
Union Minister of State for Tourism and Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri Shripad Y. Naik, MLA for Cumbharjua Constituency Shri Rajesh Faldessai, President, ZP, North Shri Siddhesh Naik, Acting Sarpanch of Village Panchayat, Se Old Goa, Shri Vishwas S. Kuttikar, Directorate General of Police Shri Jaspal Singh IPS, and others also paid floral tributes at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that it is a happy augury to celebrate the Birth anniversary of our Nations two great leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri on October 2 every year. He said that, Mahatma Gandhi advocated social changes who sacrificed everything to achieve India’s independence. Gandhijis principles such as non-violence, peace, togetherness besides Salt March etc had not only motivated masses to unite but inspired to fight for India’s Independence and also propelled him to a position of leadership throughout the world. This is a result of his self-assurance and tenacity. Gandhiji gained notoriety throughout the world because of his ideas on protecting our languages, cultures, and nation via his deeds. The recent example to this effect was evident when the leaders of the 20 nations that chose India to hold the G-20 presidency paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi he added.
The Lal Bahadur Shastri’s slogan Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan has brought in major revolutionary changes in the country
Speaking further, the Chief Minister said all efforts are being made to achieve development in the state. By taking the inspirational thoughts of cleanliness from Mahatma Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi launched the mission of Swatch Bharat and the entire nation participated in this mission. He said the Prime Minister had requested every Indian citizen to practice One Hour of Cleanliness on October 1, 2023, and this campaign was a huge success across the country despite many obstacles related to rain. The Chief Minister said, if we keep up this effort of cleanness for another year, we will be successful to maintain Goa clean, green, and beautiful.
Gandhiji who is popularly known as Bapu had envisioned for development of villages and to that effect the Prime Minister of India launched the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign. In pursuance to this in Goa, we launched the Swaympurna Goa campaign on October 2, 2020, and as a result, the programs and initiatives of the Central and state governments became accessible to all residents he said. Housing, water, sanitation, insurance, and divyang equipment are all provided. Through this idea, we have reached to 99% of the population in Goa. The government is making strenuous efforts to transform Goa into Swyampurna, he added and exuded confidence that this goal will be accomplished soon with the cooperation of the people.
Speaking on the Scheme “PM VISHWAKARMA”, recently introduced by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, he said the State Government will provide equipment’s up to Rs. 15000 at no cost, including 5 days of training, and loan up to Rs.1 lakh at low rate of interest through the Swaympurna Goa campaign and common service centres. This will bring improvement in the skills of the people for their upliftment who are engaged in 18 traditional trades. This will aid the campaigns for Atmanirbhar Bharat and Swyampurna Goa.
Commenting on research and development, the chief minister mentioned that, it was started in the era of Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji . The best example was the recently launched Chandrayaan 3 by ISRO is after many years of research. Numerous institutions are providing the facilities of research and development study. He urged every student to participate in this area of research to support in development of country. We in our state has a National Forensic Sciences University, India International University of Legal Education and Research, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research etc. To make their students better educated, teachers must visit along with their students in this type of research centres.
The Chief Minister motivated student saying that, the world needs more people like you who can Change the world in better way and for that change themselves before expecting others to change if they wanted to change the world. He motivated students about the significance of adopting Gandhian principles in our daily life to spread his message of endurance, peace and harmony.
Let’s work together to maintain Goa clean and green which will be a befitting tribute to our great leader Mahatma Gandhi. We must cooperate and work in unison since Goa is the best state known throughout the world for its peace and communal harmony. Government will take strict action against those people who are trying to disturb the communal harmony in Goa he said.
Kala Academy choir group sang bhajans on the occasion. Acting Sarpanch of Se Old Goa, Shri Vishwas S. Kuttikar welcomed while Shri Pradip Naik compered the function.
Thereafter Chief Minister, Dr. Pramod Sawant alongwith Minister of State for Tourism and Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India, Shri Shripad Y. Naik, MLA of Cumbharjua, Shri Rajesh Faldessai, President, ZP, North Shri Siddhesh Naik, Acting Sarpanch of Village Panchayat, Se Old Goa, Shri Vishwas S. Kuttikar, and others attended the function organised by Se Old Goa Village Panchayat to celebrate the 119th Birth Anniversary of former Prime Minister of India, late Lal Bahadur Shastri, at the panchayat premises and offered floral tributes.
