Mother Teresa's life was dedicated to work for poor: PM Modi

Remembering the contributions of Albanian-born Roman Catholic nun and missionary Mother Teresa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said her life was dedicated to work for the poor and the socio-economically deprived.

Addressing the nation in the 23rd edition of his 'Mann Ki Baat' programme, Prime Minister Modi said, "Mother Teresa's canonisation as saint is to happen on September 4. Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs Minister) will attend the ceremony. Mother Teresa's life was dedicated to work for the poor."

A sharp political divide will be on display at the Mother Teresa's canonisation ceremony at the Vatican on September 4, as both West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not be a part of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj-led Government of India official delegation, but will go separately.

On August 26, nine days before her canonisation, and on her 106th birth anniversary, a life-size bronze statue of Mother Teresa was unveiled on the lawns of the Archbishop House in Kolkata.

Standing next to the statue of Pope John Paul, now Saint John Paul, the 5 feet 2 inches tall statue of Mother Teresa shows her bowing slightly with clasped palms, in the traditional gesture of greeting people.

Prime Minister Modi also talked about his government's successful attempt of connecting people through the 'Swachch Ganga' campaign in five states through which the river flows.

"On 20th of this month, those persons were invited who were village heads of Allahabad near the banks of Ganga," he added.

The government has lined up 1,000 projects in different states including Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal as part of the National Mission for Clean Ganga. Bharati said the second phase of the project will begin by October 2018.

More than 1,500 million litres of raw sewage is discharged into the river every day. Add to that 500 million litres of industrial waste from 700 highly polluting industries and thousands of tonnes of non-biodegradable solid waste that are dumped into the river daily.

In May 2015, the government of India approved the Namami Gange programme with an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore for five years.