Why have wedding ceremonies abroad, celebrate here: PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday questioned those families who organise weddings in foreign countries, and urged people to hold such functions within India.

In his 107th episode of his monthly broadcast programme of 'Mann Ki Baat', the Prime Minister said, "The wedding season as well has commenced now. Some trade organisations estimate that there could be a business of around Rs 5 lakh crore during this wedding season. While shopping for weddings, all of you should give importance to products made in India only."

"And yes, since the topic of marriage has come up, one thing has been troubling me for a long time… and if I don't open up my heart's pain to my family members, who else do I do it with? Just ponder… these days a new milieu is being created by some families to go abroad and conduct weddings. Is this at all necessary?

"If we celebrate the festivities of marriages on Indian soil, among the people of India, the country's money will remain in the country. The people of the country will get an opportunity to render some service at your wedding… even poor people will tell their children about that occasion. Can you extrapolate on this mission of ‘Vocal for Local’? Why don't we hold such wedding ceremonies in our own country? It is possible that the kind of system you want may not be there today, but if we organise such events, systems will also develop," the Prime Minister said.

PM Modi said that this is a topic related to very big families and I hope this pain of mine will definitely reach those big families.

The Prime Minister also spoke about ‘Project Surat’, which is set to promote cleanliness and sustainable growth in Gujarat's Surat city. “Swacchta is not a one-day campaign, instead a part of life," he said. He said that today this initiative has become a symbol of the national spirit, which has improved the lives of crores of countrymen.

"One such commendable effort has been observed in Surat. A team of youths has started ‘Project Surat’ there. Its aim is to make Surat a model city which becomes an excellent example of cleanliness and sustainable development. Under this effort, which commenced as 'Safai Sunday', the youth of Surat earlier used to clean public places and the Dumas Beach. Later, these people also got involved wholeheartedly in cleaning the banks of the Tapi river. And you will be happy to know that within no time the number of people associated with this has risen to more than 50,000," the Prime Minister said.

"Such efforts made at the grassroots level can bring huge changes," PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister in his 'Mann Ki Baat' episode also lauded Loganathanji, who lives in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore, saying his contributions are incomparable.

"During his childhood, he often used to get perturbed on seeing the torn clothes of poor children. After that, he took a vow to help such children and started donating a part of his earnings to them. When there was shortage of money, Loganathanji even cleaned toilets so that the needy children could be helped," Modi said.

PM Modi said that he has been engaged in this task with complete dedication for the last 25 years and till now has helped more than 1,500 children. "I once again commend such efforts. Many such efforts taking place across the country not only inspire us but also ignite the will to do something new," he said.

Speaking about water conservation, the Prime Minister said that one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century is 'water security'.

"Conserving water is no less than saving life. An example of this is the 'Amrit Sarovar' being built in every district of the country. The more than 65,000 ‘Amrit Sarovars’ that India has developed during the ‘Amrit Mahotsav’ which will benefit forthcoming generations. Now it is also our responsibility to ensure that wherever 'Amrit Sarovar' has been built, they should be regularly looked after so that they remain the main source of water conservation," he said.

Emphasizing the importance of skill development, PM Modi said that he came to know that an organisation has been engaged in skill development work for the last four decades, "I felt even better".

"This institution is in Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam and its name is ‘Beljipuram Youth Club’. Focusing on skill development, ‘Beljipuram Youth Club’ has empowered around 7,000 women. Most of these women today are doing some work or the other on their own. This organisation has also helped the children trapped in child labour to get out of that vicious cycle by teaching them some skill or the other," he said.

The team of ‘Beljipuram Youth Club’ also taught new skills to the farmers associated with Farmer Producer Organisations, i.e., FPOs, which have empowered a large number of farmers. This youth club is also spreading awareness in every village regarding cleanliness. It has also helped in the construction of many toilets. I congratulate and appreciate all the people associated with this organisation for skill development," he said.

PM Modi also discussed the growing popularity of Ladakhi Pashmina and said that is also being discussed a lot for some time now.

"Ladakhi Pashmina is reaching the markets around the world under the name of ‘Looms of Ladakh’. You will be surprised to know that more than 450 women from 15 villages are involved in weaving them. Earlier they used to sell their products only to the tourists coming there. But now in this era of Digital India, the products made by them have started reaching different markets in the country and the world. That means our local is now becoming global and on account of that, the earnings of these women have also increased," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister also said that this year has been a year of limitless achievements for India and extended greetings to people on Guru Nanak Jayanti and Kartik Purnima -- which will be celebrated on November 27.

He also urged people and asked them to share collective efforts with him and he will try to bring more such efforts that are taking the country forward.

He said that 'Mann Ki Baat' has gotten people to know more about such efforts and has also increased the interest in radio among people