Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi praised efforts of a village girl who revived a dry lake

In his ‘Mann Ki Baat’, monthly radio address, which was delivered on Sunday, PM Modi praised the efforts of a village girl named Babita Rajput, from a village in Madhya Pradesh, welcomed her for restoring a dry lake close to its site by channeling rainwater into it.

The 19-year-old woman from Agroutha in Chhatarpur district said she never dreamed of such appreciation and now will work more hard to conserve water.

Throwing light on importance of water, PM Modi has pointed out that water is critical for human progress.

“You’ll be all motivated by the Babita Rajput’s efforts in Madhya Pradesh’s village Agroutha,” he said. PM Modi said that she belongs to Bundelkhand village and there is a wide lake close to it.

“She and others, along with other women dug the canal all by themselves and now there is plenty of water in that canal,” said the Prime Minister.

Rajput said she is fortunate that our PM praised her for her efforts.

“This day I never dreamed of. I will work twice hard to protect the water, “Ms Rajput, who’s a Bachelor of arts second year student, said.
After her village, which is about 100 kilometers from its district headquarters, she chose to revive the lake in 2018, a woman who was a native of the parched region of Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh.

In January 2019, Rajput began digging a canal, alongside 200 to 250 women from the village, from a nearby hill to channel the water into the lake and in 18 months completed it.

The village got rains only twice last year, but the lake did have adequate water after the efforts of Rajput and other female residents, local residents said.

Rajput also said she belonged to a poor family and studied at a school near her place.

“It’s not possible for my family to take me to a major town to learn,” she said.

The woman says that now she is planning on driving water to the lake with a canal from the other side of the hill to provide ample water all year long.

Rajput and other village women are also involved in a project to use water prudently in agriculture. Chhatarpurs Bada Malhera Janpad CEO Ajay Singh said additional work will be done in the lake to ensure it will have a large stock of water in the summer season under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).