PM Modi praises Assam's wildlife conservation on Mann Ki Baat
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
A national radio audience of millions heard Prime Minister Narendra Modi single out Assam for its efforts in nature and wildlife conservation during the September 27, 2026 edition of Mann Ki Baat — the monthly address that has become a direct line from the Centre to the country.
The Chief Minister's Office of Assam shared a video clip of the moment, amplifying the Prime Minister's words to its own audience and signalling the state government's pride in the acknowledgement.
Why Assam sits at the heart of India's conservation story
Assam is home to some of India's most iconic protected landscapes. Kaziranga National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — shelters the world's largest population of the Indian one-horned rhinoceros. Manas National Park, another World Heritage Site, is a critical corridor for tigers, elephants, and golden langurs. Together, they place Assam at the geographic and symbolic centre of northeastern India's biodiversity belt.
The state's forest department has over the years worked on anti-poaching drives, community-based conservation models, and habitat restoration — efforts that periodically draw national attention. Central recognition through a platform as wide as Mann Ki Baat carries weight: the programme reaches tens of millions of listeners across radio and digital platforms every month.
Mann Ki Baat as a conservation pulpit
Mann Ki Baat has, across its run, become a vehicle for the Prime Minister to spotlight grassroots and state-level work that might otherwise stay below the national radar. Episodes have previously highlighted citizen-led tree-plantation drives, river-cleaning initiatives, and wildlife rescue stories. Acknowledging Assam's conservation efforts in this forum places the state's work in front of a national audience and, in effect, sets a benchmark for other states.
The pattern is worth noting: when the Centre publicly praises a state's environmental record on a platform this visible, it often precedes — or accompanies — renewed focus on scheme allocations or policy support for protected-area management.
For Assam, where conservation and economic development must constantly be balanced against each other in fragile flood-plain ecosystems, the Prime Minister's words are more than ceremonial. They are a signal that the state's approach is being watched — and endorsed — at the highest level.