Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who receives several gifts from domestic and international visitors, and during his overseas trips, is auctioning those items, so the proceeds can go to one of his flagship projects – Namami Gange. The last such auction was held in 2019.
The nearly 30,000 Crore project ‘Namami Gange’ is set to get the nation’s attention once again with the ongoing auction. The project’s success greatly depends on public participation.
The Prime Minister is auctioning paintings and sculptures he received from all over the world. The sports equipment he received from the athletes at the Tokyo Olympics is also on the table.
Go to https://pmmementos.gov.in/#/ and browse through. Some of the auctions are already being hotly contested by bidders.
‘Namami Gange’
The river Ganga (Ganges) is considered sacred and holds a rather unique place in Hinduism.
However, cleaning up the river is also an economic agenda, pointed out the Prime Minister in 2014 while visiting the US, as the river caters to roughly 40 percent of the population.
The complex project is divided into entry-level, medium-term, and long-term activities.
Entry-level activities include removing floating waste in the river, controlling the pollution that enters through rural sewage drains, and constructing crematoria to prevent the disposal of dead bodies in the river.
Medium-term activities include putting a stop to the municipal and industrial pollution entering the river. The construction of sewage treatment plants in municipalities is one of the plans to offset the release of municipal waste in the first place.
Providing an adequate and free flow of the river is part of the long-term activities of the project.