New Delhi: “The number of people who voted in the election is more than the population of America, close to double the figure. The total number of voters in India exceeds the entire population of Europe,” Mr Modi said in his address.
He pointed out that lakhs of teachers, officers and staff strived day and night to carry out the exercise.
Three lakh personnel of the Central armed police forces, 20 lakh state police personnel ensured free and fair elections.
“Besides this, there is another fact pertaining to these elections that swells our hearts with pride. Perhaps, this is the first time ever that women have enthusiastically voted, as much as men did. This time the ratio of men and women who voted was almost the same.
“Another encouraging fact is that, today, there are a record 78 women Members of Parliament. I congratulate the Election Commission and every person connected with the electioneering process and salute the aware voters of India,” Mr Modi said.
Emphasising on the significance of water conservation, Mr Modi called for saving the precious resource through rainwater harvesting, and said that there is a need to make it a mass movement on the lines of Swachch Bharat.
Mr Modi said that “one size fits all” approach is not required in conservation of water.
“In different parts, different methods may be adopted but the aim is the same — to conserve every drop of water. There cannot be a single formula for dealing with water crisis across the country. For this, efforts are being made in different parts of the country in diverse ways. But the goal remains the same, and that is to save water and adopt water conservation,” he said.
Mr Modi appealed to all Indians, including eminent people from all walks of life to create awareness on water conservation.
The Prime Minister also urged people to share knowledge about traditional methods of water conservation.
“If you know about any individuals or NGOs working on water (conservation), do share the details,” he said.
He asked people to use #JanShakti4JalShakti to upload their content relating to water conservation on social media.
“You will be surprised that only 8 per cent of the water received from rains is harvested.” he said.
