New Delhi: Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates on Saturday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the upcoming 100th episode of his flagship address 'Mann Ki Baat'. The 100th episode of 'Mann Ki Baat' will be aired on April 30. The first episode of the program was aired on October 13, 2014 soon after the NDA government came to power in the Centre. Since then, the address is aired at 11 am on the last Sunday of every month on All India Radio and Doordarshan network.
Taking to Twitter to congratulate Modi, Gates wrote: "Mann ki Baat has catalyzed community led action on sanitation, health, women’s economic empowerment and other issues linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. Congratulations @narendramodi on the 100th episode."
Gates also shared a report about the program by the Institute for Competitiveness that was released on April 27. The report has compiled the impact that 'Mann Ki Baat' has made on the people's initiative to bring societal change and transformation.
Various issues ranging from education, sports, policies, reforms, environment, cleanliness, social issues and extraordinary performance of citizens have been taken up at the monthly radio program. The All India Radio has translated the program into 22 Indian languages, 29 dialects and 11 foreign languages.
BJP has announced to broadcast the 100th episode of the address in a grand manner. The party has planned to arrange facilities in four lakh places including every assembly constituency as well as broad, for people to listen to the prime minister's address, which will be aired over 1000 radio stations. During the 'Maan Ki Baat @ 100' celebrations, a commemorative stamp and a coin were released. Last week, Modi had said that he was waiting eagerly for the 100th episode of the program.
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A statement issued by the BJP stated that 'Mann Ki Baat' has become a national tradition with the prime minister addressing the nation every month and encouraging citizens to join in the country's development journey. It may be mentioned here that earlier, last month, Gates had applauded India's progress in the fields of health, development and climate. He praised the country for manufacturing lots of Covid vaccines and thereby saving millions of lives during the pandemic.
