PM Modi donates Lokmanya Tilak National Award money to Namami Gange Project
PM Modi was conferred with the Lokmanya Tilak National Award and decided to donate the award money of Rs 1 lakh to the Namami Gange project.
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi was awarded the Lokmanya Tilak National Award in Pune in the presence of Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, nephew of NCP supremo, Sharad Pawar, who was the Chief Guest in the event.
After receiving the award, PM Modi addressed the event and said, “The vision of ‘Vyavastha Nirmaan se Sanstha Nirmaan’, ‘Sanstha Nirmaan se Vyakti Nirmaan’, ‘Vyakti Nirmaan se Rasthra Nirmaan’ acts like a roadmap for building the nation. India is diligently following this roadmap, today.”
On being conferred with the award, he said, “I have decided to donate the prize money to the Namami Gange project and I want to dedicate this award to 140 crore people of the country.”
Namami Gange Programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014 to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution and conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.
It is being operated under the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti. The program is being implemented by the National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga (NMCG) and its state counterpart organizations i.e State Program Management Groups (SPMGs).
Ajit Pawar along with a group of MLAs rebelled against Sharad Pawar and broke out from NCP as a breakaway faction and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar’s attendance at the event honouring PM Modi led to protests by the Opposition with leaders from the Congress and Uddhav faction of the Shiv Sena gathering at Pune’s Lokmanya Tilak statue in Mandai. The INDIA-led protest has also found support from some Manipur groups and tribal committees’ organisations.
During his Pune visit, PM Modi also open the new Metro rail line extension that will make commuting between Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune easier and faster, along with inaugurating and laying the foundation stones for development projects at the Parade ground of the Shivajinagar police headquarters.
