Yugdrishta Nanaji

Government of India kick-starts the Birth Centenary Celebration of ‘Rashtrarishi’ Nanaji Deshmukh, who
successfully materialised the philosophy of ‘Integral Humanism’ in over  500 villages

New Delhi: In order to remember the immense contribution of ‘Chitrakoot Shilpi’ Nanaji Deshmukh in village development and also to motivate other people to emulate his wonderful model, Union Ministry of Culture has started his birth centenary celebration in a befitting manner on October 10. The celebration will continue up to October 11, 2017 across the country in the form of different activities.
The centenary celebration formally began at Nehru Memorial Museum & Library Auditorium in the presence of veteran RSS Pracharak Shri Madandas, Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharati, Haryana Governor Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Dr Mahesh Sharma, Secretary of Ministry of Culture Shri NK Singh, general secretary of Deendayal Research Institute (DRI) Shri Atul Jain and scores of people engaged in village development activities. A photo exhibition was also organised on the occasion. Logo of the centenary celebration was also released.
The birth centenary of Nanaji coincides with the birth centenary of Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya, the proponent of Integral Humanism, and Nanaji is credited with successfully materialising that concept on the ground.
Explaining why Nanaji was called ‘Rashtrarishi’ Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki said: “Despite being in politics Nanaji was more than a politician—a statesman. A politician thinks only for five years, while the statesman thinks for generations. It is difficult to think of a total dispute-free village today, but Nanaji created not a single, but hundreds of such villages in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.” He said the governance can be said successful only when every person of the society feels that the government genuinely thinks in his/her interests. “Nanaji developed the model of village development, which can really ensure all-round development of the society without depending upon the government. This model needs to be emulated, as it can cure many ills of the society,” the Governor added.
Sushri Uma Bharati, while sharing her reminiscences with Nanaji, said ‘every moment of his life was precious and meaningful’. “He did not waste any moment and he knew the art of converting challenges into opportunities. He knew the art of taking work from any person—even from those who are normally discarded by the society, and he was full of confidence while doing anything. Another interesting thing was that he always enjoyed doing the work,” she said adding that she first met Nanaji in 1985 and at the later stage of life he starting calling her as ‘Amma’. “What I learnt from Nanaji is that nothing is useless and every moment of life is precious,” she added.
Describing Nanaji Deshmukh as a Yugdrishta Union Minister of Culture Dr Mahesh Sharma said he gave new dimension to social consciousness of Bharat and his Ministry has decided to remember his contribution of village development throughout the year. “Nanaji used to say that if the fruits of development do not reach the last person of the society the development is meaningless,” he said. General secretary of DRI Shri Atul Jain also spoke on the occasion.
             — Pramod Kumar