Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India’s cultural heritage was not preserved the way it should have been post Independence “due to various reasons”, but now his government is working to this end and developing a Buddhist circuit.
“After the period of slavery, there were many reasons why we could not preserve our own cultural heritage. Keeping this in mind, our government is working on reviving and protecting its cultural heritage and memories associated with Lord Buddha,” Modi said while inaugurating the Buddha Jayanti celebrations here.
Modi announced that the government had approved over Rs 360 crore for a Buddhist circuit and development of Buddhist sites in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
He said that his government was following the Buddha’s philosophy, which says that instead of feeling sad at other’s sufferings, it is better to empower him to fight the misery.
“I am glad that our government follows the same path of compassion and service that Lord Buddha showed us,” Modi said as he described various welfare schemes of his government, including health programme Mission Indradhanush, providing cooking fuel under Ujjwala Yojana, easy loans for small entrepreneurs under Mudra Yojana and opening of zero balance bank accounts for the poor under the Jan-Dhan Yojana.