New Delhi/Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said previous governments did not have the “political will” to save the country’s heritage and a country which does not cherish its heritage loses its future also.
The Prime Minister launched Rs 1,200 crore Gandhi Ashram Memorial masterplan at Sabarmati and also inaugurated the redeveloped Kochrab ashram at a function on the anniversary of the famous Dandi Yatra, or salt march, taken out by Mahatma Gandhi on March 12, 1930.
Modi also dedicated to the nation and laid the founPrime Minister Narendra Modi during the inauguration of the re-developed Kochrab Ashram and the launch the master plan of the Gandhi Ashram Memorial, at Sabarmati Ashram, in Ahmedabad, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (PTI Photo)dation stone of various developmental projects worth over Rs 1,06,000 crore at Dedicated Freight Corridor’s Operation Control Centre in Ahmedabad.
Addressing after launching the master plan of Gandhi Ashram Memorial, Modi said, “A country which does not cherish its heritage loses its future also. Bapu’s Sabarmati Ashram is a heritage not only for the country, but for the entire mankind.”
“The Sabarmati Ashram has become a pilgrimage not only for our freedom movement but also for Viksit Bharat (developed India). Today, Bapu’s vision is giving a clear direction to our country for a bright future.”
“One (reason for which) was the habit of looking at India from a foreign perspective, and the other the compulsion to appease, due to which India’s great heritage kept getting destroyed. Encroachment, uncleanliness, disorder all these hijacked our heritage,” Modi said.
He mentioned that Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram has always been a life centre of unmatched energy. “The ashram, once spread over 120 acre land, was over a period of time reduced to five acre, and from 63 buildings to 36 now. Of these existing 36 buildings, tourists can visit only three. It is the responsibility of all 140 crore Indians to preserve the Sabarmati Ashram which people from all over the world come to see, admire and experience,” the Prime Minister said.
