Pune: Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his gratitude on Tuesday for being honoured with the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award at an event in Pune, where he shared the stage with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) stalwart Sharad Pawar.
“This is a memorable moment for me,” PM Modi said, adding, “While I am very happy to be here, I am also feeling emotional. Lokmanya Tilak is the Tilak of our freedom struggle.”
In a benevolent gesture, Prime Minister Modi announced his decision to donate the prize money received from the award to the Namami Gange project.
“I have decided to donate the prize money to the Namami Gange project. I want to dedicate this award to 140 crore people of the country,” he added.
The Lokmanya Tilak National Award was established by the Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust in 1983 to honor the legacy of Lokmanya Tilak. PM Modi became the 41st recipient of this esteemed award, joining the ranks of illustrious personalities like Shankar Dayal Sharma, Pranab Mukherjee, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, NR Narayana Murthy, and E Sreedharan, among others.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi arrived in Pune for a day-long visit, during which he is scheduled to inaugurate various development projects and participate in different programmes. As part of his visit, he will also launch Metro trains and lay the foundation stone for other development initiatives, as stated in the official statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
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