A Special Christmas at PM Modi’s Residence

Published By : Admin | December 26, 2023 | 17:08 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently celebrated Christmas with the Christian community. His interaction, imbued with warmth and respect, underscored the deep-rooted values of pluralism and inclusivity that are the bedrock of India's vibrant democracy.

PM Modi's address resonated with a message of unity and shared purpose. He fondly recalled his historic meeting with Pope Francis, highlighting his deep respect for the Christian faith and its emphasis on compassion, service, and love.

PM Modi warmly received by Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2021.

He further commended the invaluable contributions made by the Christian community to India's social fabric, particularly in education, healthcare, and social upliftment.

PM Modi celebrates Christmas with eminent members of Christian community at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.

Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto thanked the PM for inviting everyone to celebrate Christmas at his residence. He said that Christmas is not only the feast of the Christian minority community but also a National feast. He also commended the Prime Minister for his vision of Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas and said that PM Modi has given wonderful leadership to the nation.

George M George, Deputy MD of the Muthoot Group, conveyed that all communities across India, not just Christians, have a promise for a better future because of the positive changes undertaken by PM Modi. Similarly, Alukkas Verghese Joy of the Joyalukkas Group expressed deep admiration for the Prime Minister’s down-to-earth demeanour and his round-the-clock work for the nation.


Varghese Kurian, an NRI from Bahrain, talked about the greatly improved image of India on a global stage under the leadership of PM Modi. Antony Jacob, CEO of Apollo 24/7, shared how the Prime Minister talked to each of the 80-90 members present at the gathering individually and had something to say to everyone.


Bishop Simon John expressed gratitude and happiness over the Prime Minister calling people of the Christian community over to his house for a Christmas event, the first by any Prime Minister to date.

Former Indian Athlete Anju Bobby George shared the differences in how athletes were celebrated during her sports time 20 years back and now under the PM Modi government. She explained that because of the Khelo India and Fit India programmes, sportspersons are celebrated by everybody in India, thanks to PM Modi’s initiatives.

In the same event, Prof John Varghese, Principal of St. Stephen's College, thanked PM Modi for his vision, determination and heartiness reflected in the National Education Policy and shared that the PM’s vision regarding NEP “is both local and global”.

PM Modi’s interaction with the Christian community on Christmas was more than a seasonal gesture. It was a powerful reaffirmation of India's commitment to its core values of pluralism and respect for all religions. His message of unity and love transcended the boundaries of faith, offering a picture of hope and inspiration in a world yearning for peace and understanding.

Also Watch: Students Presenting a Mesmerizing Christmas Choir

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Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the 50th meeting of PRAGATI - the ICT-enabled multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation - earlier today, marking a significant milestone in a decade-long journey of cooperative, outcome-driven governance under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The milestone underscores how technology-enabled leadership, real-time monitoring and sustained Centre-State collaboration have translated national priorities into measurable outcomes on the ground.

Review undertaken in 50th PRAGATI

During the meeting, Prime Minister reviewed five critical infrastructure projects across sectors, including Road, Railways, Power, Water Resources, and Coal. These projects span 5 States, with a cumulative cost of more than ₹40,000 crore.

During a review of PM SHRI scheme, Prime Minister emphasized that the PM SHRI scheme must become a national benchmark for holistic and future ready school education and said that implementation should be outcome oriented rather than infrastructure centric. He asked all the Chief Secretaries to closely monitor the PM SHRI scheme. He further emphasized that efforts must be made for making PM SHRI schools benchmark for other schools of state government. He also suggested that Senior officers of the government should undertake field visits to evaluate the performance of PM SHRI schools.

On this special occasion, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi described the milestone as a symbol of the deep transformation India has witnessed in the culture of governance over the last decade. Prime Minister underlined that when decisions are timely, coordination is effective, and accountability is fixed, the speed of government functioning naturally increases and its impact becomes visible directly in citizens’ lives.

Genesis of PRAGATI

Recalling the origin of the approach, the Prime Minister said that as Chief Minister of Gujarat he had launched the technology-enabled SWAGAT platform (State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology) to understand and resolve public grievances with discipline, transparency, and time-bound action.

Building on that experience, after assuming office at the Centre, he expanded the same spirit nationally through PRAGATI bringing large projects, major programmes and grievance redressal onto one integrated platform for review, resolution, and follow-up.

Scale and Impact

Prime Minister noted that over the years the PRAGATI led ecosystem has helped accelerate projects worth more than 85 lakh crore rupees and supported the on-ground implementation of major welfare programmes at scale.

Since 2014, 377 projects have been reviewed under PRAGATI, and across these projects, 2,958 out of 3,162 identified issues - i.e. around 94 percent - have been resolved, significantly reducing delays, cost overruns and coordination failures.

Prime Minister said that as India moves at a faster pace, the relevance of PRAGATI has grown further. He noted that PRAGATI is essential to sustain reform momentum and ensure delivery.

Unlocking Long-Pending Projects

Prime Minister said that since 2014, the government has worked to institutionalise delivery and accountability creating a system where work is pursued with consistent follow-up and completed within timelines and budgets. He said projects that were started earlier but left incomplete or forgotten have been revived and completed in national interest.

Several projects that had remained stalled for decades were completed or decisively unlocked after being taken up under the PRAGATI platform. These include the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge in Assam, first conceived in 1997; the Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link, where work began in 1995; the Navi Mumbai International Airport, conceptualised in 1997; the modernisation and expansion of the Bhilai Steel Plant, approved in 2007; and the Gadarwara and LARA Super Thermal Power Projects, sanctioned in 2008 and 2009 respectively. These outcomes demonstrate the impact of sustained high-level monitoring and inter-governmental coordination.

From silos to Team India

Prime Minister pointed out that projects do not fail due to lack of intent alone—many fail due to lack of coordination and silo-based functioning. He said PRAGATI has helped address this by bringing all stakeholders onto one platform, aligned to one shared outcome.

He described PRAGATI as an effective model of cooperative federalism, where the Centre and States work as one team, and ministries and departments look beyond silos to solve problems. Prime Minister said that since its inception, around 500 Secretaries of Government of India and Chief Secretaries of States have participated in PRAGATI meetings. He thanked them for their participation, commitment, and ground-level understanding, which has helped PRAGATI evolve from a review forum into a genuine problem-solving platform.

Prime Minister said that the government has ensured adequate resources for national priorities, with sustained investments across sectors. He called upon every Ministry and State to strengthen the entire chain from planning to execution, minimise delays from tendering to ground delivery.

Reform, Perform, Transform

On the occasion, the Prime Minister shared clear expectations for the next phase, outlining his vision of Reform, Perform and Transform saying “Reform to simplify, Perform to deliver, Transform to impact.”

He said Reform must mean moving from process to solutions, simplifying procedures and making systems more friendly for Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business.

He said Perform must mean to focus equally on time, cost, and quality. He added that outcome-driven governance has strengthened through PRAGATI and must now go deeper.

He further said that Transform must be measured by what citizens actually feel about timely services, faster grievance resolution, and improved ease of living.

PRAGATI and the journey to Viksit Bharat @ 2047

Prime Minister said Viksit Bharat @ 2047 is both a national resolve and a time-bound target, and PRAGATI is a powerful accelerator to achieve it. He encouraged States to institutionalise similar PRAGATI-like mechanisms especially for the social sector at the level of Chief Secretary.

To take PRAGATI to the next level, Prime Minister emphasised the use of technology in each and every phase of the project life cycle.

Prime Minister concluded by stating that PRAGATI@50 is not merely a milestone it is a commitment. PRAGATI must be strengthened further in the years ahead to ensure faster execution, higher quality, and measurable outcomes for citizens.

Presentation by Cabinet Secretary

On the occasion of the 50th PRAGATI milestone, the Cabinet Secretary made a brief presentation highlighting PRAGATI’s key achievements and outlining how it has reshaped India’s monitoring and coordination ecosystem, strengthening inter-ministerial and Centre-State follow-through, and reinforcing a culture of time-bound closure, which resulted in faster implementation of projects, improved last-mile delivery of Schemes and Programmes and quality resolution of public grievances.