From projection mapping at centrally protected monuments to release of comic books telling stories on the themes of Prime Minister’s ‘Mann ki Baat’, the Culture Ministry has lined up a host of events to mark the monthly radio programme’s 100th episode.
Union Culture Secretary Govind Mohan on Thursday said that an exhibition of artworks produced by 12 prominent artists will also be put up at the National Gallery of Modern Art here as part of the series of events.
The ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme was started on 3 October 2014 and is broadcast on last Sunday of every month at 11 am on entire All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD) network. The 100th episode of the 30-minute programme is slated to be aired on April 30.
The ‘Mann ki Baat’ marks the prime minister’s “conviction and desire to have an inclusionary and people-centric approach to governance,” Mohan told reporters here.
Inspirational stories of ordinary people are taken up, and woven around the themes, which are “critical to nation-building”, and the PM shares his various thoughts on nation-building which are “totally non-political and people-centric”, the culture secretary said.Two big curtain-raiser events have taken place here to mark the landmark episode that will air on Sunday, one chaired by the Vice President of the country where book on ‘Mann ki Baat’ was released, and other by the Union Home Minister where panel discussions were held, Mohan said.
In order to join this “revolutionary idea of direct dialogue” with the people — the ‘Mann ki Baat’ — the Culture Ministry has taken three initiatives, he added. “As part of the first initiative, we have selected certain themes from ‘Mann ki Baat’ on the basis of which projection mapping and sound and light shows will be done at 13 different locations across the country on April 30 evening,” Mohan said.
These 13 sites included Red Fort and Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya in New Delhi, Sun Temple in Odisha, Golconda Fort in Hyderabad, Vellore Fort in Tamil Nadu, Gateway of India in Mumbai, Navratnagarh Fort in Jharkhand, Ramnagar Fort in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur, a fort in Assam, the Residency in Lucknow and Sun Temple, Modhera in Gujarat, and Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan, he said.
The projection mapping will encompass various themes of ‘Mann ki Baat’ and will be open to visitors “free of cost”, the culture secretary said, when asked more details about this initiative.
These projection mappings will encompass various themes of ‘Mann ki Baat’, highlight the heritage value of the site and the region they are located in, he said.