Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the Mann Ki Baat 138th episode on Sunday to mark ten years since the 2016 surgical strikes, appeal to citizens to take part in the ongoing Census, and showcase community projects ranging from mangrove planting to amla processing.
Terror response and the Census
Recalling the Army’s cross-LoC operation of 28–29 September 2016, Modi described it as a new template for India’s counter-terrorism policy and linked it to the Balakot airstrike and Operation Sindoor. He said India now follows a “zero-tolerance” approach, and also paid tribute to victims of the 9/11 attacks on their 25th anniversary.
32 crore families counted so far
A large part of the broadcast focused on the Census. Modi said data for more than 32 crore families had been recorded as the first phase nears completion, and that over 2.6 crore people had already used the online self-enumeration portal. He said the process takes about 15–20 minutes, needs no document uploads, is available in 16 languages besides Hindi, and generates an ID to share with the enumerator.
Heritage, cleanliness and youth campaigns
The Prime Minister paid tribute to former VHP leader Ashok Singhal on his birth centenary, spoke about Modhera in Gujarat as India’s first solar village, and ahead of Gandhi Jayanti urged people to step up cleanliness drives, calling cleanliness “the most beautiful tribute” to Bapu. He also highlighted the 100-week Nasha Mukt Yuva Abhiyan, pygmy hog conservation in Assam, women planting mangroves in the Sundarbans, and about nine crore beneficiaries registered on the Poshan Tracker.
Why it matters: Mann Ki Baat is often used to signal government priorities. This episode’s push on Census self-enumeration matters because accurate household data will shape planning and welfare targeting for years, while the security messaging echoes themes the PM raised recently at the SCO summit.
Today’s News 27 Sep 2026 · 10 stories
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