On the occasion of the 100th episode of PM Modi’s monthly public dialogue, ‘Mann Ki Baat’, on radio, the Ministry of Culture has planned to present its effects in front of the country through three initiatives. Under this, two important departments of the Ministry, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and

The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) has prepared the three programmes.

This information was given by Govind Mohan, secretary, Ministry of Culture. He said that the idea behind these programmes is to highlight the efforts made by PM Modi to promote Indian culture, tradition, and art.

He informed this reporter that under the first programme, special programs will be organised at 13 archaeological sites in the country. These include Delhi’s La Qila and PM Museum, Gwalior Fort, Konark Temple in Odisha, Golconda Fort in Telangana, Vellore Fort in Tamil Nadu, Gateway of India in Maharashtra, Navratnagarh Fort in Jharkhand, Ramnagar Palace in Jammu, Residency Palace in UP, Gujarat Modhera Sun Temple, Assam’s Rang Ghar, Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh Fort.

The programme will be organised on 29 and 30. Light and sound shows based on ‘Mann Ki Baat’ will be organised at all these places. Its biggest attraction is the projection mapping show, in which the visitors will get a chance to know and understand the historical and architectural significance of the monuments very closely.

Films related to Mann Ke Baat will also be screened during the programme. The programme will run from 5 pm to 7 pm in the evening, where entry will be free for everyone. ‘Audio Booth’ for the viewers to listen to the past episodes of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ program at the memorial sites, ‘Selfie Booth’ to save these memories and give their ideas and suggestions for the upcoming episodes of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ program. There will also be features like a ‘Message Booth’ for sharing.

The secretary said that in the second programme, a painting exhibition named ‘Jan Shakti’ based on the main themes of Mann Ki Baat would be organised. These paintings will be of a dozen well-known painters and artists of the country including Manu Parikh, Madhavi Parikh, Atul Dodiya, GR Irana, Paresh Mehta, Vibha Galhotra, Jagannath Pandya, Pratul Dash, Manjunath Kamat, Ashish Purkayastha.

All these creations on women power, water conservation, clean India, environment, climate change, yoga, will be based on Ayurveda, Science and Space and Amrit Kaal. The Ministry has duly bought the works made by these artists. Renowned artist Anjolie Ela Menon will also be present as the chief guest on the occasion of this exhibition.

Under the third programme, a new experiment has been made by the Ministry in collaboration with Amar Chitra Katha, in which a series of 12 comic books based on motivational stories based on ‘Mann Ki Baat’ has been prepared. Its first comic will be released on 30 April. Each book will feature four new inspirational stories each time. Apart from Hindi, and English, these comics will also be available in Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Oriya, Gujarati, Kannada, Assamese, Malayalam, Punjabi and Urdu.

The Ministry of Culture, along with the Ministry of Education, is considering making it available free of cost to all schoolchildren in the country. Apart from the Central Board schools, the Ministry of Education is talking to the State Boards for the same. The ministry started work on this project last January.