Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India attained “many special achievements” in 2023, recounting the successes of a wide array of people from scientists to athletes and artistes, calling it reflection of the “strength of 140 crore Indians”, as he looked back during the year’s final episode of the Mann ki Baat radio show on Sunday.
During the 32-minute broadcast, Modi spoke on mental health — with clips of comments from cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur, chess icon Vishwanathan Anand, actor Akshay Kumar and spiritual leader Sadhguru, the need to take the “the spirit of a developed India; the spirit of self-reliance” to 2024.
“My dear countrymen… 2024 is just a few hours away. India’s achievements are the achievements of every Indian… Whatever work we do, whatever decision we make, our first criterion should be… what the country will get from it; what benefit it will bring to the country. Rashtra Pratham – Nation First – there is no greater mantra than this. Adhering to this mantra, we Indians will make our country developed and self-reliant,” he said, as he closed the show wishing people success in 2024.
“May you all reach new heights of success in 2024, may you all stay healthy, stay fit, stay immensely happy – this is my prayer. In 2024 we will once again discuss the new achievements of the people of the country,” he said.
During the show, Modi also touched upon the Ram temple construction — he is due to be part of a consecration ceremony on January 22 – the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Act’ (women’s reservation law), India becoming the world’s fifth largest economy, the success of the G20 Summit, the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s historic landing close to the south pole of the Moon, the Oscars honours for Natu-Natu and The Elephant Whisperers, and the medals hauls in Asian Games (107) and Asian Para Games (117) as the highlights for the country in the past year.
“We have to maintain the same spirit and momentum in 2024 as well. The record business on Diwali proved that every Indian is giving importance to the mantra of ‘vocal for local’,” he said.
But he devoted a significant portion of his show to the topic of fitness, especially mentally health. “My family members, we just discussed the hope and enthusiasm about India that pervades everywhere – this hope and expectation is very good. When India turns developed, the youth will benefit the most. But the youth will benefit more, when they are fit,” Modi said.
After the comments by his guests, which also included the founder of a start-up in Bengaluru, the PM said: “Friends, everyone has expressed one’s own views but everyone has the same mantra – ‘Stay Healthy, Stay Fit’. What could be a bigger resolve than your own fitness to start 2024?”
The Prime Minister also brought up artificial intelligence (AI) technologies – one of the biggest talking points globally last year – and recounted how during an event in Varanasi, homegrown Bhashini AI tool helped translate his speech into Tamil in realtime for the audience. “I would urge today’s young generation to further explore AI tools related to Real Time Translation and make them 100% fool proof,” Modi said.
Speaking on what he said were glimpses of India’s potential to become a developed nation, Modi cited the country’s improvement on several indicators: “in 2015 we were ranked 81st in the Global Innovation Index – today our rank is 40th… “the number of patents filed in India was high, of which about 60% were from domestic funds… the highest number of Indian universities have been included in the QS Asia University Rankings… If we start making a list of these achievements, it can never be completed. We have to take inspiration from these successes of the country; these achievements of the people of the country; take pride in them, make new resolves,” he said.
Among his appeals to listeners, in addition to those on fitness and working for the greater benefit of the country, Modi appealed to people to create a common hashtag to showcase art and music pertaining to the Ram Temple. “I request you to share your creations on social media with the hashtag Shri Ram Bhajan (#shriRamBhajan). This compilation will turn into a flow of emotions and devotion in which everyone will be immersively imbued with the ethos of Ram,” he said.
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