Every year, Antyodaya Diwas is celebrated in India on September 25 to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya and remember his life and legacy. In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the day in honour of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. He was a leader and a veteran politician and had a key influence on Bharatiya Jana Sangh from which the BJP emerged.
The word Antyodaya means uplifting the poorest of the poor and the day is observed with the aim to reach out and help the last person in society.
History
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was born in Mathura in 1916. In the 1940s, he underwent a 40-day camp in Sangh education and a two-year training at the RSS education wing.
He served the Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1953 to 1968 where he became the source of ideological guidance and moral inspiration for the BJP and its inception.
Apart from all his organisational capabilities, he was also known for his philosophical and literary works. He developed the concept of 'Integral Humanism' advocating the holistic development of the mind, body, intellect, and soul.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya died at the age of 51, on February 11, 1968.
Significance
The spirit of the Antyodaya Mission aims to reach out to the last person, and hence, the motto of this day is to help all poor and rural youth of India and help them find national and international employment opportunities.
In 2014, on Antyodaya Diwas, the Ministry of Rural Development relaunched its existing skill development programme called the Aajeevika Skills as the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM). It was later renamed Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- NRLM in November 2015.
Several blood donation camps, seminars, symposia and other activities are organised on this day.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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