At 5PM on 20th February, the three-day long exhibition and auction (18th, 19th and 20th February) for the various gift articles and mementos received by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi came to a close. The proceeds from the auction will go to the Clean Ganga Fund and will be utilized for the cleaning of the Ganga. Total 460 gift articles were put for display and auction.
The three-day exhibition and auction generated unprecedented enthusiasm with people from all walks of life joining the proceedings.
More than 4631 groups and individuals have visited the exhibition for past three days. Roughly 9400 persons visited the exhibition site in these three days including various dignitaries, viz; Mayor of the city Shri Niranjan Zhanjhmera , MP Smt. Darshanaben Jardosh, MP Shri C.R.Patil, many members of legislative assembly and large number of businessmen, media persons from across the country, many NRIs and people from different walks of life.
At the closure of the bid process, a total of 1852 bids for 460 gift articles received by the Prime Minister were received. The details are annexed in the annexure attached herewith.
The unprecedented enthusiasm indicates tremendous support for the Prime Minister’s initiative to auction the gift he receives and donate them towards a noble cause. It may be recalled that as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi initiated a similar practice and donated money to the Kanya Kelavani Nidhi. In his 13 years as Chief Minister he had raised a sum total of almost Rs. 95 crore towards girl child education. Several young girls and their families benefited from this step.
This gesture by Shri Modi will also increase awareness on the need to join hands and clean the Ganga, which is already being taken up by the Central Government on a Mission Mode.