Noting that Covid-19 was very deceptive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today appealed to the people to remain vigilant against the virus.

India, he said, has performed an amazing feat of administering 185 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

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Modi credited social awareness for this achievement and the success of other movements like Swachhta Mission and single use plastic reduction.

On the occasion of Ram Navami today, the PM addressed the 14th foundation day celebration at the Umiya Mata Temple at Gathila, Junagadh in Gujarat via video conferencing.

He told a gathering on the occasion that he has always felt their collective strength and concern for the betterment of the state and the country. He also stated that Ram Navami was being celebrated at a grand scale in Ayodhya and in the rest of the country.

The Prime Minister observed that it was not possible for people to cause any damage to mother earth. ”As we do not feed unnecessary medicines to our mother, we should not use unnecessary chemicals on our land too,” he said.

He talked about measures to preserve land areas like water preservation schemes. He recalled the Jan Andolan undertaken during his tenure as Chief Minister of the state. He said; ”We cannot afford to relax on the movement of water preservation.”

Modi said that mother earth needed to be protected from chemicals. He reiterated the need to promote natural farming.

The PM also expressed happiness that by the grace of the Maa Umiya and other deities and by the efforts of the government, the gender ratio improved and the BetiBachao movement showed good results.

He noted that a large number of girls from Gujarat were representing the country in the Olympics. He also emphasised the need to be active against malnutrition among children and girls. He underlined the need to take special care of the nutrition of the expecting mothers. The pain of malnutrition needed to be completely eradicated, he stressed.

Modi reiterated the importance of the ”Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” and ”Amrit Kaal”. He asked the gathering to raise awareness and resolve about the shape of the society, village, and the country in their hearts. He also stressed his vision of 75 Amrit Sarovars in every district.

He said that for the people of Gujarat who had made thousands of check dams, this should not be too big a task but the impact of this effort would be huge. He asked this task to be completed before 15 August 2023. He asked for a social movement for this. He said that social consciousness should be the moving force.