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A Special Bond

Published By : Admin | February 6, 2022 | 13:39 IST

Lata didi has left for the heavenly abode. This ends the marvellous and melodious era in the Indian Movie Industry. Her soulful voice reverberated across the nation and won million hearts in the country. Called as the “Swar Kokila” by her fans, Lata Didi shared a special intangible bond with them. Not only with her fans, Lata Didi had immense affection for PM Modi.

 

PM Modi and Lata Didi shared the same birthday month. She used to affectionately call PM Modi as ‘Narendra Bhai’. In 2013, when PM Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he was invited by Lata Didi and her family to inaugurate a super-speciality hospital in Pune, which was built in memory of her late father, Deenanath Mangeshkar. The hospital was very close to Lata Didi as it was built in the memory of her late father. During the event, Lata Didi had said, “I pray to God that we see Narendra Bhai as PM.” Lata Didi had said this much before 2014 elections.

 

 

She used to wish her “Narendra Bhai” on the auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan every year. In one of her video messages Lata Didi had expressed anguish that why she couldn’t send Rakhi to PM Modi because of the COVID pandemic. She had said – “Narendra Bhai, I would like to wish you on the occasion of Rakhi and say pranam. I couldn’t send a Rakhi and everybody knows the reason why,”. To which PM Modi had replied that “her heartfelt message gives infinite inspiration and energy. May you be healthy and live long, this is my prayer to God”.

 

In an interesting episode of Mann Ki Baat in 2019, PM Modi had shared with the nation, a telephonic conversation, he had with Lata Didi before leaving for his US Trip. He had called this cheerful conversation as “It was like a younger brother talking lovingly to his elder sister”.

 

PM Modi also recounted his personal relationship with Lata Didi in the same conversation. He recalled how she always treated him to Gujarati delicacies whenever he had the opportunity to meet her.

 

In the same conversation he says, “There would hardly be anyone who does not show utmost regard for Lata Mangeshkar ji. She is elder to most of us and has been witness to different eras in the country. We address her as ‘didi.’ To this Lata Didi had said, “Even you (PM Modi) don’t know what you really are. I know that the picture of India is changing with your arrival and that, that makes me very happy. It makes me feel very good.” Lata Didi had also said that she took PM Modi’s Mother’s blessings on her birthday.

Lata Didi and PM Modi used to wish each other on their birthdays. In one of the birthday-messages she had said that “Namaskar Narendra bhai. Aap ko janamdin ki bahut badhaai. Ishwar aap ko har kaam mein yash de yehi mangal kaamana. Tathastu.” To this PM Modi had replied “Thank you Lata Didi. I have been fortunate to receive your blessings for many years. They give me immense strength.” If one looks at this greetings exchange, one can see the mutual affection and warmth between Lata Didi and her ‘Narendra Bhai’.

PM Modi had also wished on her 92nd birthday in 2021. He said - “Birthday greetings to respected Lata Didi. Her melodious voice reverberates across the world. She is respected for her humility & passion towards Indian culture. Personally, her blessings are a source of great strength. I pray for Lata Didi’s long & healthy life.”

 

It is indeed a sad day for the nation that Lata Didi has passed away. But her voice will still reverberate across the country. This year at The Beating Retreat Ceremony, at the behest of PM Modi, the tune of “Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon Was Played”. This song which was sung by Lata Didi instils the spirit of patriotism in the heart of every Indian.

 

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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.