PM Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said a commemorative event to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda is being planned to be held in Chicago where he had earned accolades for his discourse on Hinduism at the Congress of world religions in 1893.
Announcing this at the inauguration in New Delhi of four-year celebrations to be held across the country to mark Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary, the Prime Minister listed out the activities planned to popularise the philosopher’s teachings during the celebrations.
“Swami Vivekananda had very definite and enlightened views on education. He conceived of education as the primary means of rebuilding Indian society,” Singh said.
“We are working on a suitable commemorative event in Chicago,” he said.
The Government of India has already approved a film on Swami Vivekananda by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust, he said.
It has also set up a National Committee under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister to guide the conduct of the commemorative events.
The committee has chalked out programmes including publication of his complete works, international conferences and seminars on his teachings, establishing chairs in universities, annual lectures and encouraging research in inter-faith dialogue.
PM to inaugurate Vivekananda’s 150th birthday celebrations
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the nationwide celebrations to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The Delhi Ramakrishna Mission will organise the events jointly with a government-appointed national committee.
Celebrations spread over four years will be held across the country during which programmes would be conducted to help the youth connect to Swami Vivekananda’s teachings.
The Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, is planning a series of programmes to commemorate the occasion, including a number of cultural programmes, essay writing competitions for college students and multimedia presentations on Swami Vivekananda’s message to the youth.