'Maun ki Baat on Adani, China issue': Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on 100th episode of PM Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat'

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's publicity machinery was putting in extra effort to promote the 100th edition of his monthly radio show called 'Mann ki Baat' rather than looking at other pressing issues. 

‘Mann ki Baat’ was started in 2014 to establish a dialogue with the citizens on issues of day-to-day governance.  In this programme, PM Modi speaks on many pressing issues such as government policies and reforms, students and education patterns, cultural diversity, sports, extraordinary citizens, and others. It has been the genesis, medium, and amplifier of social changes like Swachh Bharat, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Water conservation, Vocal for Local, etc. 

Criticising PM Modi for misusing the platform, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said: “The PM's mighty PR machine is working overtime to herald the 100th 'Mann ki Baat' on April 30th. Meanwhile, it is 'Maun ki Baat' as far as Adani, China, Satyapal Malik revelations, MSME destruction and other crucial issues are concerned." 

On April 30, Mann Ki Baat’s 100th episode will be aired. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will organise 100 programmes in each Vidhan Sabha constituency across the country to mark the occasion. It has assigned constituencies to top ministers, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs. The MPs have been advised to be in their parliamentary constituencies that day. 

Top party leaders including national president JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be among those leaders who will participate in various programmes on the day. 

Popularity of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ 

The Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak, in a survey found that nearly 23 crore people tune in to the 'Mann ki Baat' programme, which goes on air on the last Sunday of every month with 65 per cent of listeners preferring to hear the talk in Hindi. 

The survey also found that the 'Mann ki Baat' programme is heard more on television channels followed by mobile phones, with radio listeners accounting for 17.6 per cent of the total listenership. 

It found that more than 100 crore people have listened to the programme at least once, while around 41 crore were occasional listeners. 

Prasar Bharti Chief Executive Officer Gaurav Dwivedi said apart from 22 Indian languages and 29 dialects, 'Mann Ki Baat' is broadcast in 11 foreign languages such as French, Chinese, Indonesian, Tibetan, Burmese, Baluchi, Arabic, Pashtu, Persian, Dari and Swahili. 

Dwivedi said the programme is being broadcast by more than 500 centres of the All India Radio. 

The survey found that 18 per cent of the respondents chose to listen to the programme in English, four per cent in Urdu, and two per cent each in Dogri and Tamil. 

Listeners of other languages such as Mizo, Maithili, Assamese, Kashmiri, Telugu, Odia, Gujarati and Bengali together accounted for nine per cent of the total listenership, it found. 

The survey found that the most popular themes of the 'Mann ki Baat' programme were scientific achievements of India, stories of common citizens, gallantry of the armed forces, and issues related to the youth, environment and natural resources. 

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