Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised “people power” by saying that his appeals to promote khadi and to give up cooking gas subsidy had fetched tremendous response.
In his Mann ki Baat radio address, which has completed 12 editions, Modi said he had learnt the power and reach of democracy through his monthly address.
“Mann ki Baat has taught me a lot, about the strength that lies in the hands of the common people to bring changes in society,” he said.
He said he had made simple suggestions to people through the radio, and “I have got <g data-gr-id="28">response</g> in lakhs”. Modi said his appeal to people to suggest how to improve governance had fetched massive response, with people writing to All India Radio or to his website on gov.in. He said the lakhs of letters he had received had opened his eyes to the numerous problems people face vis-a-vis government programmes including at the grassroots level.
Giving examples of “people power”, Modi said his mention of “selfie with daughter” had fetched lakhs of responses. “The daughter got so much of pride. This was like a silent revolution.”
Similarly, his appeal to send photos of interesting spots from across India had fetched a huge response. People sent lakhs of beautiful pictures from all corners of the country. “Perhaps the tourism department has not got so many pictures of India, and the government has not spent any money.”