The Swadesh Conclave and Awards, a unique initiave recognising people for their invaluable contribution to the growth of the country, besides getting Cabinet Ministers and eminent speakers to share their vision for the country, took place in the national capital on Monday.
The unique initiative, organised by APN News in association with BALAJI Foundation, is in its third year of inception. Swadesh Conclave, a theme-based platform, has ensured broad-based, inclusive and sustainable growth, while Swadesh Award has been honouring people, projects and institutions, who have gone the extra mile to make this country and the world, a better place to live in.
The theme for this year’s Conclave-cum-Award is the “Vision of New India,” coinciding with the 75th year of independence, being celebrated across the country as Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
APN News and India Legal Editor-in-Chief Rajshri Rai said the Swadesh Conclave and Samman belongs to each and every person, who has worked for the people of this country. The recipeints of these awards are people, who have worked for the betterment of 140 crore Indians, she added.
Speaking at the event, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said Amrit Mahotsav does not belong to the government, but to 134 crore Indians. He urges every citizen to participate in the mega festival of Har Ghar Tiranga.
Union Minister S.P. Baghel warned media to stay within its Lakshman Rekha. Just because the BJP government gave room to the oppressed communities for progress, it did not mean the government was against the elites. Modi government has appointed a woman from the ST category as the President of India, which indicates its seriousness in running the government with equal opportunities to all, he said.
Baghel further said that Pradhan Mantri awas Yojana (PMAY) has given homes to the poor, who had to share living space with their livestock. The availability of toilets in rural areas led to decrease in the incidents of rape, he added.
Union Minister Ashwini Chaubey called Swadeshi (made in India) and Swavalambi (self-reliance) as the ways to realise the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat.
He said leadership was the key for a nation to become a role model for the rest of the world, adding that the visionary leadership of PM Modi has made the citizens feel proud of the nation.
Stating that 21st century was India’s century, Chaubey said the country would become a ‘Vishwaguru’ and take the world forward under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh said India needs to look back at the last 25 years to think about the vision for the upcoming 25 years, adding that the country will emerge as a world leader in 2047.
He said the government has not implemented new rules, but scrapped old and useless laws, which were running for decades. In the eight years of Modi government, every governance model turned out to be a social reform. Total 1600 rules have been scrapped under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added. PM Modi has opened up areas to the youth of this country. He has the capacity to break taboos of the past, he said.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur hailed the performance of India at the XXII Commonwealth Games. Showering praises on all athletes, the Minister especially lauded the female power, saying that women have done exceptionally well at Birmingham 2922 Commonwealth Games. Team India has so far won 55 medals, which include 18 gold, 15 silver and 22 bronze.
Talking about the National Education Policy 2020, Thakur said the government was focusing on skill sets and sports in NEP 2020, which will be implemented after 34 years.
Speaking about the abrogation of Article 370, which stripped the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, leading to its bifurcation into two Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Thakur said there was no single incident of violence in Kashmir after the scrapping of Article 370, where stone pelting was a normal affair.
The Minister said nobody was talking about Kashmir during UPA in Parliament, adding that he had started the Yuva Sangharsh Yatra from Calcutta to Kashmir in the memory of Syama Prasad Mukherjee.
He said 75 years of independence was very important. Har Ghar Tiranga was for everyone to buy and hoist flags at their homes. The Minister further asked the people to buy flags and not wait for someone to offer them one. At the end of the conclave, everyone will put tiranga as their DP, he added.
“It is not about just putting a flag at your home, but tiranga has the power to strengthen the unity of the country,” observed Thakur.
Delhi University’s Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh said that DU is going to start course-based registration under the NEP 2020, which will give students the freedom to choose the subject of their choice.
Singh said India will produce brilliant students after the implementation of NEP 2020. “Degree is just a piece of paper, your education is seen in your behavior,” he observed.
BJP minister Shahnawaz Hussain said Bihar has a different image in the eyes of every individual.
Earlier, he said that Bihar was a soft target for Bollywood film producers, who would portray a bad image of the state through movies like Apharan and Gangajal. However, today’s Bihar is about Super 30, he added.
Hussain also urged the people of the country to invest in Bihar to cut the transportation cost. The time of Lantern will never come back again in Bihar because the state is smoothly running under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari threw light on the existence of two nations in India. He said one is the rural agricultural India and the other is Urban India and to bring unity in this diversity, the need of the hour is to unite India and Bharat in order to move ahead.
Gadkari also spoke about the Swadeshi Vicharadhara, and said that its based on three points – Ethics, Economy and Rasthravaad.
“In order to become the world’s biggest economy, we need to focus on our basis, which is jal (water), jangal (forests), jameen (land) and janwar (animals).
He shared his views on the current agricultural practices in India. He said India needs to change the crop pattern to defeat the world. He applauded the current government for its policies to help the farmers and said that todays’ farmers have not only become an Annadaata, but also Urjadaata under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Commenting on the UP-Bihar agriculture, Gadkari said the people of rural India have forcefully migrated to urban India. UP’s rural economy is dependent on sugarcane and has started the production of ethanol like Bihar. Ethanol is made up of sugarcane and hydrogen is the future fuel, he added.
According to the Minister, after being fitted with hydrogen fuel, a vehicle will provide an average of 450 km in just Rs 80, which will add to the development of the country.
He ended his talk at the Swadesh Conclave 2022 by saying that India is working on 26 green highways that will reduce the journey time from 6 to 4 hours. He added that India is moving to green energy to become carbon neutral India and hence, it’s safe to say that India’s software engineers are best in the world.