Be more positive towards our achievements: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday urged people to be more positive about India’s achievements, and described the BusinessLine Changemaker Award winners as examples of inspirational work in areas that need urgent attention.

“We all should give ourselves pause to think about what we are doing for our country. Even if you can’t serve it, at least don’t discard it. At least don’t spread your toxicity,” said the minister, who was the chief guest at the award ceremony.

Read also | Nirmala Sitharaman’s address at the BusinessLine Changemaker Awards

“This is a time when we all want to be positive. We would like to join… Check out the outstanding work these award winners have done. Will we forget them tomorrow and say that nothing is happening in this country? it’s all happening. So I use this opportunity not only to showcase the country’s achievements, which are there for all of us to see.”

“Your stories are remarkable and very inspiring and I can see the changemakers focusing extensively on matters of agriculture and environment. These are the areas in which we need remarkable change,” Ms Sitharaman said in six different categories. said after presenting the prizes to the winners.

“The awards are only the first step because they show that there are solutions available that need to be encouraged so that they become commonplace. We need to rapidly change our mindset about how to live, how to consume agricultural products. .. The use of pesticides for decades is showing on our health,” the minister said, moving on to adequate coverage for the path-breaking work of the awardees.

Malini Parthasarathy, chairperson of The Hindu Group of Publications, said the 4th edition of the BusinessLine Changemaker Awards aims to recognize “human catalysts” who have helped effect dynamic change in our society and economy.

“These awards are unique in contrast to other corporate awards that honor corporate excellence or financial success; they are meant for real agents of socioeconomic change whose work has a transformative impact on our quality of life,” she said.

“This is in line with our core values ​​as a media group and we take pride in the fact that we are not associated with any business or corporate interests,” he stressed, adding that this translates into authentic and fact-based reporting. and credible narratives in the group’s publications.

Describing Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s dynamism and commitment to the upliftment of the Indian economy as inspirational, Ms Parthasarathy said: “Along with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, it is to his credit that India is now ranked as the fifth largest economy in the world. is in place.”