From Blasts to Broadcasts: Dantewada’s Chhindnar Tunes In to PM Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’

Forest and Environment Minister Kedar Kashyap (second from Right ) listens to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat along with villagers and other public representatives at Chhindnar in Dantewada district on Sunday, August 30, 2026. Bastar MP Mahesh Kashyap and Dantewada MLA Chaitram Atami were also present at the programme-Photo Credit:channel24india.com via CG/DPR

Residents of the remote Bastar village gather to hear the Prime Minister as ministers and elected representatives join them, offering another glimpse of changing conditions in the region

Key Highlights

• Residents of Chhindnar in Dantewada gathered to listen to the 137th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat on Sunday, August 30.2026
• Forest and Environment Minister Kedar Kashyap, Bastar MP Mahesh Kashyap and Dantewada MLA Chaitram Atami joined villagers for the programme.
• The gathering was projected as symbolic of changing conditions in a region that has long lived under the shadow of Maoist violence.
• Residents said the programme introduced them to positive initiatives, innovations and examples of public participation from across India.
• The government says roads, mobile connectivity, schools, healthcare and other basic services are being strengthened in remote Bastar.

Raipur: For residents of Chhindnar, a remote village in Dantewada district, Sunday brought an experience strikingly different from the fear and isolation that have marked much of the region’s recent history. Villagers gathered together to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat, joining audiences across the country for its 137th episode.

The Prime Minister’s programme was broadcast nationally on August 30, 2026. The official transcript describes Mann Ki Baat as a platform for highlighting new initiatives and innovative ideas emerging from citizens across India.

In Chhindnar, the occasion drew Forest and Environment Minister Kedar Kashyap, Bastar MP Mahesh Kashyap and Dantewada MLA Chaitram Atami, who listened to the programme alongside local residents. A contemporaneous report from Dantewada also records their presence at the Chhindnar programme.

For many villagers, according to the state information supplied for the event, it was their first opportunity to sit together as a community and listen closely to the Prime Minister’s broadcast.

A Symbol of Bastar’s Changing Public Life

The significance of the gathering went beyond the radio programme itself. Chhindnar lies in an area where Maoist violence has affected everyday life for years. Against that background, villagers assembling openly for a national broadcast presented a markedly different image of public life in the region.

Residents said after the programme that Mann Ki Baat helps connect people with constructive initiatives taking place in different parts of India and encourages participation in social and developmental activities. They also pointed to the programme’s coverage of culture, heritage, innovation and citizen-led efforts as a way of bringing little-known work into national attention.

The Chhindnar gathering also reflects the wider administrative effort to extend basic infrastructure and public services into remote parts of Bastar. Roads, mobile connectivity, schools, hospitals and other civic facilities are being strengthened as authorities seek to restore regular public services in areas where development was disrupted for years by conflict.

For Chhindnar, therefore, Sunday’s programme carried a symbolism larger than a routine radio broadcast: a village once associated with the sounds of conflict was gathered around a radio, listening together.