PM Modi addresses Global Citizen Festival via video conferencing

Couching his message in a joke on demonetisation, about the audience at the Coldplay concert in Mumbai demanding their money back in Rs 100 notes if he were to sing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought the support of the youth in the Swacch Bharat campaign saying the task is achievable within a generation.He praised Coldplay for supporting social objectives, observing, “To make public policy cool is no mean task” and added he did not want to miss out the global citizen festival happening in India and decided to join it through a video conference.The PM quoted from Bob Dylan ’s protest lyrics from the 1960s to make the point that the future will be built on the choices the youth will make. He dipped into singer-songwriter Chris Martin ’s lyrics to say, “You can see the change you want to, be what you want to be, everything you want is a dream away.”Modi said he looked forward to being with young people as this refreshed and energised him. “This is a welcome break from the routine of old files and cold Delhi,” he said while stating poverty is the biggest curse for any civilized society.He was a modern avatar of himself as he relayed his speech that was peppered with hip lingo like “guys”, “pretty much” and “schedule” pronounced the American way.“I am convinced that we can, and we will build a Swacch Bharat, free of all forms of filth within one generation,” Modi said.“This is why the government is working to empower the poor through the slogan ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’. Toilets are being built by the crores and we are developing infrastructure for waste management,” Modi said. He urged young people to lead the way, saying that they had often even told elders to mend their habits. “You have explained the importance of cleanliness to them,” he said.The new priority to cleanliness is reflected by the concert being held on world toilet day, the PM said. “I am deeply grateful for your walking shoulder to shoulder with me in this cleanliness drive and look forward to your continuing to do the same,” he said. The PM ended quoting Nobel literature prize winner Bob Dylan that urges parents not to criticise what they cannot understand and the words “your old road is changing, please get out of the new one, if you can’t lend your hand, for times they are a-changing”.