Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that he could not visit to his mother to seek her blessings on his birthday, but she will be happy to see that thousands of mothers have gathered to bless him on the day.
The Prime Minister made the remarks while addressing the gathering of over one lakh women associated with self-help groups (SHGs) in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district.
Prime Minister Modi on his 72th birthday visited to Madhya Pradesh where he released eight African cheetahs into enclosure at Kuno National Park. Following which, he graced a women SHGs conference being organised in Sheopur district.
"I would have gone to my mother to seek her blessings on my birthday, if today's programmes weren't organised here. But, thousands of mothers have come to bless me here and after seeing all this, my mother would be very happy that I am getting blessings of thousands of mothers here," Prime Minister Modi said.
He was welcomed with great enthusiasm by artists who performed tribal dance and other cultural programmes organised by the state government. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister recounted several women beneficiary schemes for women under his government.
On the occasion, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who is a prominent political face from Gwalior-Chambal region, said that around 60 per cent area of Sheopur district have dense forest zone. "Sheopur is a very small district, however, it is filled with natural resources. There are several ancient temples of Lord Shiva and that is why this area was named Sheopur."
Notably, Sheopur has two assembly seats - Sheopur and Vijaypur, and the BJP and Congress each has one MLA. However, the fact that, Sheopur, which is the part of Gwalior-Chambal region, is also considered the most remote area in the state and has highest malnutrition cases in the state.
The women SHGs participating in the conference were those who run several initiatives being promoted under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
DAY-NRLM aims at mobilising rural poor households into SHGs in a phased manner and provide them long-term support to diversify their livelihoods, improve their incomes and quality of life.
On the day, the Prime Minister also inaugurated four Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) skilling centres under PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana.