In his address at conferment of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence 2024, Dhankhar recalled contributions of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri for the country, saying that the very name of Lal Bahadur Shastri reminds of patriotism.
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Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday presented the 25th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence, 2024 to distinguished philanthropist, Rajashree Birla, Chairperson of the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development at Vice-President’s Enclave.
In his address at conferment of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence 2024, Dhankhar recalled contributions of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri for the country, saying that the very name of Lal Bahadur Shastri reminds of patriotism.
“Shastri Ji defines public service. He stood for self-sacrifice. Shastri Ji exemplified by conduct and practice, not by sermonising. There are personalities that are not required to be sustained by event management or systemic acting. They live in our memory. They guide us, inspire us, motivate us. The entire nation stood with him when we faced a near-hunger crisis. He was the first one to innovate participation of the people by a clarion call. His clarion call was not just a call, but was generated by the then-contemporaneous scenario, a threat of unimaginable dimension. Imagine the scene under which he took charge. He was the only one who could take it !” Dhankhar said.
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“We are living in times where iconic status is accorded on parameters that are baffling. People in public space are elevated to a level which is difficult to digest,” he said.
But a paradigm shift has taken place, the Vice-President said. “For instance, the Padma Awards are being conferred on people who imminently deserve them. That is why the award carries a greater credibility. This award is also in the same stream,” he said.
“A moment that will ever be etched in my memory that I am honouring one of the greatest contributors of the Birla family to humanity, Smt Rajashree Birla and the award carries the tag of one of the finest sons of the soil whose memory will never fade,” the Vice-President said.
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