Sept. 25 to be observed as Antyodaya Diwas every year: Venkaiah Naidu

Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday announced that the government has decided to observe September 25 as 'Antyodaya Diwas' every year to mark the birth anniversary of erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh and BJP icon Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.

"The Government of India has decided to observe 25th September as Antyodaya Diwas. The birthday of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, one of the great thinker and philosopher of the nationalist movement of the country. Every year here afterwards, it will be observed as Antyodaya Diwas," Naidu told a press conference here.

"Antyodaya means uplifting the poorest of the poor. Reaching the person in the last mile, that is the message of this Antyodaya. So that will be observed here afterwards, by the government at all levels," he added.

He also said that both the Urban and Rural Development Ministries are also holding a National Skill Development convention at Hotel Ashoka here, where the government will present its vision about skill development and related programmes, coinciding with birthday of Deendayal Upadhyaya.

Paying tribute to the BJP icon, the government also decided to launch a scheme called DAY, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana.