NEW DELHI: Observing that the Indian Constitution is described as a living document, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday that the governance of Lord Ram was a source of inspiration for the Constitution makers.
Speaking during the 109th edition of his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi said, “The Constitution of India has been made after such intense brainstorming, that it is called a living document.”
“In the third chapter of the original copy of the Constitution, the Fundamental Rights of the citizens of India have been described and it is very interesting that at the beginning of the third chapter, the makers of our Constitution had given a place to pictures of Lord Ram, mother Sita and Lakshman ji. The governance of Lord Ram was also a source of inspiration for Constitution makers,” he added.
“That is why on January 22nd in Ayodhya, I talked about from Dev se Desh (lord to nation) as well as Ram se Rashtra (Ram to nation),” PM Modi said, mentioning the consecration ceremony of the Ram Lalla idol at the Shri Ram temple in Ayodhya.
He said that the consecration has brought crores of people of the country together. “Everyone’s feeling is the same, everyone’s devotion is the same. Ram is in everyone’s words, Ram is in everyone’s heart,” he said.
Speaking about the Padma awards, PM Modi said that the system of conferring the awards has completely changed in the last decade and now it has become the “people’s Padma”.
“People even have a chance to nominate themselves now. This is the reason why this time 28 times more nominations have been received compared to 2014. This shows that the prestige of the Padma Award, its credibility and respect for it, is rising every year,” Modi said.