Ahmedabad:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged Gujarat’s Bharwad community to adopt natural farming and plant trees as part of the “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” campaign.
He also urged the community, which is mainly into cattle rearing, to contribute towards making India a developed nation by 2047.
PM Modi was virtually addressing the community members who had gathered in large numbers at Bavaliyali Dham in Dholera taluka of Ahmedabad to attend a religious event.
“We have given immense pain to our Mother Earth as we kept drawing water and then dumped poisonous chemicals into it. Now, it is our responsibility to make it healthy again and cow dung can help revive Earth. I urge you all to adopt natural farming and serve Mother Earth,” he said.
He appealed to the community to ensure their cattle receive vaccine shots, provided free of cost by the Centre, against foot-and-mouth disease.
“We have to build Viksit Bharat in the next 25 years and I need your community’s support for it. And I firmly believe that the first step is to make our villages developed,” said the PM.
He informed the community members that the Kisan Credit Card, which was earlier issued to farmers only, is now being extended to cattle rearers too, enabling them to avail loans at low interest rates.
“We also run Rashtriya Gokul Mission for the conservation of indigenous bovine breeds. You should take advantage of these schemes. I also urge you to plant a tree under the Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign,” said the PM in his address.
He called Bavaliyali Dham a place of faith, culture and religion.
PM Modi appealed to the community to “change as per circumstances and make their daughters learn (to operate) computers”.
Earlier in the day, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had visited Bavaliyali Dham and attended the religious programme organised by the Bharward community.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)