Take inspiration from Ramayana squirrel: Prime Minister

In his address at a public meeting organised to mark Kalam’s second death anniversary, on the Coast Guard grounds at Mandapam in Ramanathapuram district, Modi said, “Like the squirrel which helped Lord Rama in constructing the Ramasethu for him to cross over to Lanka, the people should take inspiration from the squirrel and work towards the nation’s progress.” 

“There are 125 crore people and if each one takes one step, then the country would be 125 crore steps ahead,” he said. The PM while recalling Swami Vivekananda’s return to India in 1897 and his visit to Rameswaram, he was happy to be on such a sacred soil. Modi  pointed out that Kalam that Stand Up and Start Up schemes had been launched for the benefit of the youth. The Mudra bank loan scheme had been launched to provide loans for the youths without any guarantee and it had benefited over eight crore people, including one crore from Tamil Nadu, he said. 

“This shows the interest of Tamil Nadu youth in Central government policies and the development of India is not possible without TN,” he said. 

Earlier, Modi also paid floral tributes to Kalam on his second death anniversary at his ‘samadhi’ inside the memorial. The PM also unveiled a wooden statue of Kalam playing the ‘veena’. Among the many schemes that he announced on Thursday, Modi spoke about the launch of deep sea fishing for the benefit of Rameswaram fishermen under the Blue  Revolution scheme, for which Rs 1,500 crore had been allocated.   

The Odisha government on Thursday issued a gazette notification renaming Wheeler Island in Bhadrak district as Abdul Kalam Island to mark the second death anniversary of the former President.  APJ Abdul Kalam had died on July 27 in 2015 while delivering a lecture at the IIM-Shillong in Meghalaya. The institute has proposed setting up of Abdul Kalam Centre for Policy Research and Analysis at the institute to remember Kalam. Last year, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced that the island would be renamed after the Missile Man.