CM honours outstanding anganwadi workers, sportswomen, girl students (Video)



Gandhinagar, 31 March, 2012

Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi today gave away Yashoda awards (Rs 51,000 each) worth Rs 3.8 crore to over 2,000 Anganwadi workers in Ahmedabad.

Addressing a largely attended state-level women’s convention here, he said that Gujarat is blessed by the motherly figure, Matru Shakti, which serves as a talisman to ensure the continuous progress of the state.

He described the function attended by representatives of 25 districts assume special significance as it coincides with the Chaitri Navratri culminating in Ramnavami to invoke the blessings of the Goddess. Mata Yashoda is the symbol of a mother’s extreme affection and blessings.

Modi also presented cash awards worth Rs.61.04-lakh to 1,390 sportswomen who excelled in various national and state-level events, and cash awards of Rs.1.04-crore to 3,339 meritorious girl students from the government’s fund for girls’ education, called ‘Kanya Kelavani Nidhi’.

Mr. Modi also presented the presitigious Mahila Vikas Puraskar worth Rs.50,000 to Ms. Paluben Vagh, representing Bhal Nal Kantha Khadi Gramodyog Mandal of Ahmedabad, and Mahila Vikas Pursakar worth Rs one lakh to Rajkot’s Medical and Education Trust for working in the field of women’s empowerment.

Elaborating on motherly prowess, he said the anganwadi workers though hailing from economically poor families perform a yeoman’s job of nurturing future citizens, instilling higher moral values among the children in their formative years. The government has improved the condition of these anganwadi workers during the last ten years. These anganwadi workers also contribute to the success of government schemes for providing nutritious diet to pregnant women and removing malnutrition among poor children.

Mr. Modi said the government has allocated Rs.400-crore during the new financial year’s budget to construct newly designed 12,000 Nandan Ghars across the state, each provided with a cooking gas connection, instead of the earlier practice of fuel wood ovens.

Speech video