India is following Swami Vivekananda in empowering poor, says PM Narendra Modi at 125th anniversary celebrations of `Prabuddha Bharata`

`If the poor cannot access banks, then banks must reach the poor. That is what the Jan Dhan Yojana did. If the poor cannot access insurance, then insurance must reach the poor. This is what the Jan Suraksha schemes did. If the poor cannot access health-care, then we must take health-care to the poor, ` Prime Minister Modi said.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (January 31, 2021) addressed the 125th-anniversary celebrations of 'Prabuddha Bharata', a monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order, started by Swami Vivekananda. 

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India is following Swami Vivekananda in empowering the poor.

Referring to Swami Vivekanand's letter to the Maharaja of Mysore and to Swami Ramakrishnananda. Prime Minister underlined two clear thoughts in Swami Ji's approach to empowering the poor. First, he wanted empowerment to be taken to the poor, if the poor themselves cannot easily go to empowerment. Second, he said about India's poor, "They are to be given ideas; their eyes are to be opened to what is going on in the world around them, and then they will work out their own salvation." 

PM Modi asserted that this is the approach with which India is moving ahead today.

"If the poor cannot access banks, then banks must reach the poor. That is what the Jan Dhan Yojana did. If the poor cannot access insurance, then insurance must reach the poor. This is what the Jan Suraksha schemes did. If the poor cannot access health-care, then we must take health-care to the poor. This is what Ayushman Bharat scheme did. Roads, education, electricity and internet connectivity are being taken to every corner of the country, especially to the poor. This is igniting aspirations among the poor. And, it is these aspirations that are driving the growth of the country," Prime Minister Modi noted. 

He stated that Swami Vivekananda named the journal 'Prabuddha Bharata' to manifest the spirit of India. 

"Swami ji wanted to create an 'Awakened India', beyond just a political or territorial entity. Swami Vivekananda saw India as a cultural consciousness that has been living and breathing for centuries," said Prime Minister Modi.

PM Modi said that India's proactive stance during the COVID-19 pandemic is an example of Swamiji's approach of not feeling helpless in a crisis. 

"Similarly, instead of complaining about the problem of Climate Change, India went for a solution in the form of the International Solar Alliance. This is the Prabuddha Bharata of Swami Vivekananda's vision being built. This is an India which is giving solutions to the world's problems," PM Modi pointed out.

The Prime Minister expressed happiness that Swami Vivekananda’s big dreams for India and his immense faith in India's youth are reflected in India's business leaders, sportspersons, technocrats, professionals, scientists, innovators and so many others. 

He asked the youth to move ahead by following Swamiji's advice in his lectures on Practical Vedanta where he talks about overcoming setbacks and to see them as a part of the learning curve. 

Terming Swami Vivekanand as a spiritual giant, a highly elevated soul, Prime Minister Modi stressed that he did not renounce the idea of economic progress for the poor.