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Mahatma Gandhi’s Swadeshi idea formed basis of self-reliant India: Yogi
U.P. chief minister Yogi Adityanath pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversaries in Lucknow
Paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) and Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904-1966) on their birth anniversaries, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals laid the foundation of a ‘self-reliant’ India.
“Bapu’s call for ‘Swadeshi’, ‘Swachchta’ and ‘Gram Swaraj’ are the basis of the vision of attaining self-reliance,” he added. Remembering India’s second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Yogi said he was admired across the country for his simplicity and decisiveness.
On the occasion, the CM garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the GPO Park in the state capital. He later visited the Gandhi Ashram in Hazratganj and the Shastri Bhawan along with deputy CM Brajesh Pathak and minister Swatantra Dev Singh among others.
“Bapu’s teachings act as a guide for the new, free and independent India. Since 2014, PM Modi has been working assiduously to push the country towards ‘self-reliance’. Upliftment of the poor through Jan Dhan accounts, Swachch Bharat Mission and safeguarding the dignity of women were among the first steps of the Modi government,” Yogi said at the GPO Park.
In his address, the CM said when the whole world was grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, PM Modi gave the mantra of a ‘self-reliant’ India and promoted ‘vocal for local’. “The double-engine government (The BJP govts at the centre and in state) is working religiously for ‘Gram Swaraj’ and self-reliance through the promotion of local goods such as Khadi,” he added.
‘Self-reliant U.P. a must for self-reliant India’
Maintaining that his government is working for a self-reliant Uttar Pradesh, the CM said that schemes like “One District One Product” (ODOP) and Vishwakarma Shram Samman were encouraging local and traditional crafts and strengthening the rural economy. “The government is also providing tool kits and financial assistance to support artisans, and craftsmen,” the CM said.
“In the last five years, U.P. has encouraged local products and as a result, the exports have doubled. With this, we are leading lakhs of people towards self-reliance,” he added. Paying tribute to former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri, the CM said, “Shastri Ji established India as a powerful country in the world with the slogan of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’.”
Discount on Khadi products for next 3 months
CM Yogi said the state and central government had decided to give special discounts on Khadi products for the next three months. On the occasion, besides the CM, other state ministers also bought clothes from the Gandhi Ashram.
