NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday inaugurated the programme ‘Online presentations by eminent social workers for the benefit of Members of Parliament’, being organized by the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (erstwhile BPST) in Extension of Parliament House Annexe Building.
Inaugurating the programme, Birla said that the Padma Awardees participating in this programme have made important contributions in diverse areas of nation-building and sharing of best practices, domain knowledge and modules of development with the Members of Parliament would ensure innovative, participative and sustainable development across the country.
Observing that Bhagwat Gita propounds the concept of doing our actions without yearning for its fruits, Birla said that rendering service to others is an intrinsic part of our culture. He further said that even during the Covid-19 pandemic, the collective efforts of our people have ensured that help and assistance is rendered to the needy people in time and have provided a constructive message to other nations.
Recalling that Mahatma Gandhi had said that in order to search within oneself, one needs to be in service of others, Birla expressed the confidence that Members would be able to gain valuable, informative knowledge through this platform over the next five days, through dialogue and discussions. He hoped that this programme would be instrumental in bringing forth a new change in our society and lead to human-centric development.
Earlier, Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh delivered the welcome address on the occasion.
This unique initiative by Shri Birla provides a platform for the Members of Parliament, where best practices from various fields of social and developmental work will be shared by eminent Padma Awardees from various states of the country, who are recognized by the Government of India for their distinguished contribution in social service and other related fields. Every day, four Padma Awardees will make a presentation of 45 minutes each from 10.30 am to 2.00 pm.
The Presentations by the Padma Awardees will range over various subjects from Agriculture, Animal Husbandry & Biogas, Agro-Bio diversity Conservation to Rehabilitation of Divyang and Micro-finance and Self-help Groups. The Presentations will be recorded and made available on the Members’ Portal which can be viewed by Members of Parliament at any point in time.
The Padma Awardees who will be giving the presentations are: Shri Sundaram Verma (Padma Shri 2020); Smt. Trinity Saioo (Padma Shri 2020); Shri Radhamohan & Ms. Sabarmatee (Padma Shri 2020); Shri Venkateswara Rao Yadlapalli (Padma Shri 2019); Shri Bharat Bhushan Tyagi (Padma Shri 2019); Shri Genabahi Dargabhai Patel (Padma Shri 2017); Shri Ramesh Babaji Maharaj (Padma Shri 2019); Ms. Rahibai Soma Popere (Padma Shri 2020); Dr. Rajani Kant (Padma Shri 2019); Shri Bimal Kumar Jain (Padma Shri 2020); Shri S Ramakrishnan (Padma Shri 2020); Shri Javed Ahmad Tak (Padma Shri 2020); Dr. Anil Prakash Joshi (Padma Bhushan 2020); Shri Himmata Ram Bhambhu (Padma Shri 2020); Shri Kalyan Singh Rawat (Padma Shri 2020); Shri Romulus Whitaker (Padma Shri 2018); Shri Pawar Popatrao Bhaguji (Padma Shri 2020); Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal (Padma Shri 2017); Smt Madurai Chinna Pillai (Padma Shri 2019); Shri Mahesh Sharma (Padma Shri 2019).