Prayagraj: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday hailed Prime Minister Modi’s gesture of washing the feet of sanitation workers during his visit here.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has increased the dignity of Kumbh by coming here. It is a historical moment in the history of India and Uttar Pradesh that a prime minister has washed feet of sanitation workers and honoured them,” said the Chief Minister in his address at the ‘Swachh Kumbh Swachh Aabhaar’ event organised by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
Heaping praise on the Prime Minister for his immense contribution in the development of the country, Adityanath recited lines of a poem penned by acclaimed Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and stated: “Those who point fingers on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s selfless dedication, hard work and , onesty towards the nation are lost in their own dazzling world and will never understand how to recognise history.”
“Modi ji has dedicated himself to Mother India. Under his guidance and leadership, Uttar Pradesh government was able to organise such a grand Kumbh event this year, in which, around 22 crore pilgrims have taken a dip so far,” the Chief Minister added.
Adityanath further spoke about funds raised by the Prime Minister for various schemes and programmes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Namami Gange etc. “When Modi ji served Gujarat as the chief minister of the state. He himself took an initiative and set a corpus fund of Rs 21 lakh for the education of sanitation workers’ children. He also arranged bid of his own precious gifts and collected Rs 90 crore and donated them for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme.”
“After becoming the Prime Minister in 2014, whatever amount he collected by bidding his gifts, he donated it for Namami Gange Mission… We all should be thankful to him for Nirmal and Aviral Ganga.
The whole nation takes pride in Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he was honoured with the Champion of the Earth award and Seoul Peace Prize. The cash prize of Rs 1 crore 40 lakh received by him from Seoul has been donated to Namai Gange Fund,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a holy dip at the ‘Sangam’ and offered prayers. He also performed the Ganga Aarti at the ongoing Kumbh Mela. After this, the Prime Minister met sanitation workers and washed their feet as a mark of respect.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]