Excerpts of the speech of Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information & Broadcasting on the occasion of Laying of Foundation Stone for Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu on July 27, 2016.

Excerpts of the speech of Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information & Broadcasting on the occasion of Laying of Foundation Stone for Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu on July 27, 2016. Brothers and sisters! Tamil is an ancient classical and beautiful language, I can understand it but unfortunately I cannot speak it and am sorry for the same. I will not take any names of the guests as the earlier speakers have all taken their names however I will take only one name in my opening and that is that of Janab APJ Maraikayar, the brother of the great Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. I welcome him. I thank my colleague the Defence Minister Mr. Manohar Parrikar for organizing this event in memory of the great son of this country APJ Abdul Kalam. I thank the Chief Minister Selvi Jayalalitha for allotting the land for the memorial to Dr. Kalam. And when I met her last week she assured me that whatever needs to be done for a befitting memorial will be done by the State government. It is a solemn occasion for all of us, Today is the first anniversary, we gathered here to perpetuate the message of the life and the memory of one of the greatest sons of our motherland, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, in the form of a memorial. It is difficult to believe that it is already one year is over since the great man left all of us for his heavenly abode. It is difficult still, even to believe that Dr. Kalam passed away. He continues to be with us all the time by the sheer power of his thoughts, power of his ideas and power of his contributions to the greater cause of their motherland and humanity at large. Dr. Kalam will live forever in our minds and hearts. Then one may ask as why a memorial for Dr. Kalam? A memorial besides being a symbol of our collective gratitude to such people for what they have done for us, is also like a temple or a mosque or a church for the present and future generations to remember, that is the Indian system and culture. To remember and recall that such a great person was born and walked on this land and pay their tributes and reverence, besides drawing inspiration from their life that is the purpose of this memorial. Why is Dr. Kalam great and a great source of inspiration? Is it because he was a renowned scientist or he was our President. There were several scientists and Presidents. But he was different because he lived differently, thought differently and acted differently. He overcame several odds and challenges that are common to most of us. He had a mission in his life and accomplished it while most of us would have given up in the face of such challenges. He led his life in the pursuit of the cause of the nation without wavering anytime during his life even during times of crisis. He remained a bachelor but was wedded to the welfare and development of the country. Dr. Kalam was born in a poor family of a boat maker. To support his family, he did some odd jobs but continued to pursue his studies. He had mastered the intricacies of science to strengthen the defence mechanisms of the country. He explored the contours of the space to ward off threats to his motherland that could be originating from unknown frontiers of space. Dr. Kalam conceived Agni and Prithvi for the sake of his country and rightly came to be known as the missile man. He was the key player in the Pokhran-II nuclear test which has validated our countrys capabilities in mastering the power of invisible particles of an atom. The advantages of such nuclear advances for meeting the needs of the poor and the country at large in the form of civil nuclear energy are universally acknowledged. This is no mean contribution to the humanity in general. The transformation of Dr. Abdul Kalam from the son of a poor boat maker in Dhanushkodi to the most accomplished scientist and to that of the most loved President of our county is a great message in itself for all of us to understand and draw inspiration. For me, Dr. Kalam was a missile man not just because he was the architect of several nuclear missiles. He was a missile man because he set the minds of millions of our youth roaring into higher skies through the power of his words and writings. He has inspired thousand of the new generation, the youth. The very titles of two of his most popular books were inspiring in themselves. They being The Wings of Fire and Ignited Minds. They clearly suggest that we can fly to newer heights if only we have the fire of passion and can ignite our minds. When Dr. Kalams name was being considered for the post of President of our country, quite a few were not sure if a hard core scientist with no experience of public life or even public interaction could be the right choice. However may be because he was not form politics he managed very well. I happened to be the national President of BJP, which was in power at the Centre when the then NDA Government led by Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was considering Dr. Kalam for the post of President of our country. He was immensely popular and all Indians loved Dr. Kalam without exception form Kashmir to Kanya kumari. I feel honoured to be associated with the discussions on Dr. Kalam for the Presidentship and our decision in his favour, subsequently proved the best one. He emerged as the most loved President of our country. During my tenure in the Rajya Sabha over the last 18 years, I have had quite a few occasions to meet and interact with him. Every such meeting was a huge learning for me. He was so rooted to the ground, so clear in his thoughts, so fierce in his mission and commitment to the nation, he was just awesome. After advancing the cause of defence might of our country so successfully, Dr. Kalam was equally passionate about our country emerging as a leading economic power. He used to say that strong and developed nations will take us seriously, only we become strong economically too. He was so full of ideas in this regard that when he was the President, he came out with an idea of Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas PURA. Our government is carrying forward this vision of Dr. Kalam. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is committed to fulfilling the vision of Dr Kalam. For such a great man, we are building a memorial here. This memorial will be a grand monument to perpetuate the memory of Dr. Kalam who lived not for himself but for all of us and for our country. He was so inspired by his passion for the advancement of his country that his life is a true definition of nationalism. Unfortunately, this word nationalism is sought to be distorted and even ridiculed by some these days. I am confident that such people would be the eventual losers. Friends, While Dr. Kalams Memorial would stand on a piece of land here, we have decided to improve the state of affairs in the town of Rameswaram, which was an important of his life. The twin words of Kasi and Rameswaram have a huge significance for the cultural legacy of our country. It would be the dream of millions of our countrymen to visit both these historic cities at least once as a fulfillment of their lives. Thousands of years ago, Lord Rama is believed to have built a bridge here across the sea to Lanka. This land boasts of such great legacy. This is the land which was the karmabhoomi of Dr. Abdul Kalam. Keeping in view the historic significance of Rameswaram and the fact that this town is a part of the life of such a great man, we have included this town in the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) by relaxing the norm of eligibility. While cities with a population of one lakh and above are included in AMRUT, though this town has a population of only about 45,000, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi included it in AMRUT as a tribute to Dr. Kalam. Recently, we have approved projects with an investment of about Rs.48 cr for Rameswaram under AMRUT. Sewerage networks will be improved at a cost of Rs.45 cr and parks and open spaces will be developed with another Rs.3 cr. This is a token of what the minimum we could do for the memory of Dr. Kalam. We are to build a 53 room guest house here in Rameshwaram to facilitate visitors to this historic place. It will be called the APJ Abdul Kalam holiday home. I once again take this opportunity to thank the honourable Chief Minister Ms. Selvi Jayalalitha for giving the land to build the memorial. While Dr. Kalam, a Karmagogi was associated with Rameswaram, another Karmayogi Shri Narendra Modi, our Prime Minister represents Kasi (Varanasi) in the Lok Sabha. Prime Minister has been taking personal interest in the memorial for Dr. Kalam. Like Dr. Kalam, Shri Narendra Modi ji is thinking of making our country economically strong and striving for the same day and night. It is a matter of destiny that two Karmayogis are associated with the twin emotional cities of Kasi and Rameswaram. Friends, We die the way we live. Dr. Kalam always thought of igniting the minds of the students and the youth so that they could reach great heights by breaking all shackles. He relentlessly pursued this for five years as President and thereafter. He finally breathed his last while talking to a group of students in Shillong, this day a year ago. We can never repay our debt to Dr. Kalam for what he did to our nation. The best way of seeking to do so is to be guided by his life and his vision. The memorial that will come up here is a small tribute to the great man. I once again thank the Defence Minister Mr. Parrikar for the DRDO having taken charge of the project. It was originally to be done by the CPWD which comes under the Urban Development Ministry but Mr. Parrikar said that Dr Kalam had spent a large part of his career with DRDO and that DRDO wanted to build the memorial and it was agreed. I thank all the concerned for their cooperation in this regard. The vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is federal cooperation where the centre and states work in harmony, this memorial is an example of this vision where the Union and the state government are working together to build a fitting memorial to Dr. Abdul Kalam. I thank the Chief Minister for her cooperation. I urge all political parties and their representatives to cooperate and work towards completion of this memorial as Dr. Kalam belonged to the nation and not any political party. Long live Dr. Abdul Kalam ! Thank you all! CP/GV

Excerpts of the speech of Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information & Broadcasting on the occasion of Laying of Foundation Stone for Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu on July 27, 2016.

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