Rigveda to Chanakya, Amte to Constitution

PORVORIM: CM Pramod Sawant deployed Vedic wisdom, Chanakya’s Arthashastra, and Marathi poetry in an attempt to make his budget speech come alive.
Stressing that the principle of ‘antyodaya’ (welfare of the last man) was the guiding principle of his government and the underlying theme ofhis budget, Sawant began his budget speech citing the vedic mantra ‘Aano bhadra krtavo yantu vishwatah’ (Let thoughts of welfare come to me from all directions).
Sawant resorted to Baba Amte to express the government’s resolve to work towards eliminating social disparities: ‘Shrunkhala payi asude, mee gatiche geet gayi/Dukh udhalayas ata asvana vel nahi’ (Chains shackle my ankles, true. Let them be/I continue to sing the song of the future, of progress/True, sorrows envelope me. But my tears have no time to wallow in them). “There are various kinds of social disparities prevalent in our society, but we also possess the resolute will to overcome them and achieve victory,” he said.
Iassure you that my government is firmly behind each and every divyang, every person from the ST community, every elderly person, and every needy individual,” said the CM.
He said that a new department will be carved out from the social welfare department — the department of empowerment of persons with disabilities — tasked with providing services and addressing the issues concerning the disabled people. He said that the organisation of ‘Purple Fest’ (for disabled) was appreciated by PM Narendra Modi, and proposed to organise more such unique events “where the specially-abled can be brought into the mainstream public without any hesitation.”
Towards the end of his budget speech, Sawant invoked Chanakya’s Arthashastra to underscore his government’s commitment to work for the wellbeing of the people: Praja Sukhe Sukham Ragnya, prajanan cha hite hitam / natma priyam hitam ragnya, prajanan tu priyam hitam. (In the happiness of the people lies the ruler’s happiness, their welfare is his welfare/What pleases him, the ruler shall not consider good, but whatever pleases his people, the ruler shall consider good.)
“We are components of the democratic system laid down by the Indian Constitution,” Sawant said. “People of Goa have voted us into office. With a sense of thisobligation, my government consistently brings forth this ideology of antyodaya before the people through efficient administration.”
This isn’t the first time Sawant introduced poetry in this budget speech.
In his last year’s budget speech, Sawant started off with the lines of a famous Marathi poem by noted lyricist Shantaram Athavale: Man shuddh tuzh, gosht ahe prathvimolachi/tu chal pudhe tula re gadya bhiti kashachi/parva bi konachi (Your intentions are clean, and this is as precious as the earth/Go on, march forward, you have nothing to fear/none to be afraid of). By invoking Athavale, Sawant had tried to turn criticism into acclaim for himself and his government for steering the state through the pandemic on the strength of his reassurance “bhivpachi garaz na”, for which he was scathingly lampooned.