New Delhi:Private entities need to be more proactive in collaborating with the government to showcase India's rich culture to the world, Meenakshi Lekhi, MoS for Culture and External Affairs said on Saturday.
Speaking at the conference 'Sankalp se SiddhiNew India New Resolve' Lekhi said that no business can do well in a vacuum. "Under the leadership of visionary PM Modi, India is bringing back its cultural heritage and is even working hard on showcasing to the world how rich our country is in terms of culture, diversity, history and economy," the minister said. Unravelling the pages of History, the Minister said that even after achieving independence, slums were being built and poverty remained a consistent issue.
"But after 2014, when Modi Ji became Prime Minister, money was transferred into the bank accounts of the poor, houses were and are being built instead of slums and extreme care is being given to eradicate poverty," she said. At the global level, India is bringing back its glory but it cannot be achieved without the collaboration of private entities like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), she added.
"At a time when we are celebrating Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, strong emphasis should be given to private entities without whose collaboration, we will not be able to achieve what we can. The government alone cannot provide employment to everyone and therefore there is a strong need for private entities to come together," said the minister.
With India making significant gains in the international arena, the Minister underscored the need to popularise Indian culture abroad. "We have already submitted a dossier to UNESCO regarding India's centuries-old tradition and it's already under evaluation," the minister noted. France, she said, has chosen the baguette as its candidate for UNESCO intangible cultural heritage status, and India too needs to take similar steps.
"We can do more in this aspect but we need industries for it. Something like organizing cultural events at Time Square or in Paris could be done to showcase our rich identity to the world. But we cannot do this alone. We need the collaboration of private entities which can bear the travel and stay cost of the participants as the government alone cannot do this," said the Minister.
Emphasizing the achievements of Narendra Modi, she said that after becoming PM, he built crores of toilets. "With PM Modi's visionary eye, we are making India great again. It was the vision of PM Modi that we are celebrating the efforts of Sadhus and Sants who sacrificed their lives for the independence movement. Before PM Modi, nobody celebrated the key role of Sadhus who attained martyrdom in India's freedom struggle. It was solely the idea of PM Modi to celebrate the courage of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji who was killed by the invaders, and he stood by his principles and Dharma till the end. He was against conversation and he was killed by the brutal invaders," she added.
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