PM Narendra Modi addresses `Mann Ki Baat`, pays homage to Sant Ravidas

"But the aim should be to try not just to make contract farming a business, but also have to fulfil there responsibility towards the land on which it is practiced", he said.

India has reported more than 11 million coronavirus infections and over 157,000 deaths.

In his monthly "Mann Ki Baat" broadcast, Modi said water has been crucial for the development of humankind for centuries.

Highlighting that the Union Jal Shakti Ministry is also launching "Catch the rain" campaign and its main theme is "Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls", he asked people to commit themselves for this cause.

He said water has been crucial for the development of humankind for centuries.

PM Modi also talked about the "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" initiative and said that it is not merely a Government efforts, but is the "national spirit of India".

He also said there is a need to make science more popular across the country and asserted that science can not be limited to physics-chemistry and labs.

PM Modi took the first dose of the vaccine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi.

In the last Mann Ki Baat address in January, PM Modi had urged the countrymen to write about freedom fighters as well as stories of their struggle in order to mark the nation's 75th Independence Day this year. I feel - it is a regret of sorts that I could not make enough efforts to learn the world's oldest language Tamil.

"Remarkable how our doctors and scientists have worked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against Covid-19", Modi said on Twitter, posting a picture of him getting the shot at a government hospital in New Delhi.