Antyodaya Diwas 2023: Date, history, significance, quotes and all you need to know

Antyodaya Diwas is celebrated annually in India to mark the birth anniversary of Indian leader Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. It is a day of remembrance and celebration of his life and legacy and he was one of the most prominent figures in India’s political history. He was a co-founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) and a thinker of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Upadhyaya is also known for his efforts to uplift the poor and less fortunate, and so his birth anniversary is celebrated on Antyodaya, which means ‘rising of the last’. Read on to know more about this day.

When is Antyodaya Diwas 2023?

The festival will be celebrated with great fervour and enthusiasm on Monday, September 25.

Antyodaya Diwas history

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was born in Mathura on 25 September 1916. In honour of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s birth anniversary, Indian Prime Minister Modi declared this day a national holiday in 2014. He died in 1968 near the Mughalsarai Junction railway station. The UP government later changed the name of the station to ‘Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction’ in 2018. On this day in 2014, the Ministry of Rural Development re-introduced Aajeevika Skills, a skill development programme under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM). It was later renamed Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- NRLM in November 2015.

Significance of Antyodaya Diwas

In keeping with the Antyodaya Mission’s mission to reach out to all, the motto of the day is to help all underprivileged and rural youth in India find local, national and global employment opportunities. To create awareness about the need to protect and care for the underprivileged and vulnerable members of society, the government organised symposiums, blood donation camps, programmes and orientation sessions. On this special day, the government organises many activities across the country to help people who lack basic necessities.

Famous quotes by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya

“Strength lies not in unrestrained behaviour but in well-regulated action.”

“Dharma is a very wide concept which concerns all aspects of life-sustaining the society.”

“The principles of ethics are not framed by anyone, these are rather discovered.”

“When nature is channelled according to the principles of dharma, we have culture and civilization.”

“Human Knowledge is common property.”

“Unity in diversity and the expressions of unity in various forms has remained the thou Indian culture.”

“If we stop to analyze the reasons for the problems facing the country, we find that the confusion about our goal and the direction is mainly responsible for this chaos.”

“There is diversity and plurality in life but we have always attempted to discover the unity behind them.”