Category: India

Source: Government of India

Right from the time I stepped on the premises. I am energised and surcharged, and why not? Me and Dr. Sudesh Dhankhar are proud parents of a daughter.

Distinguished members of the faculty, and my dear students, because I’m here for you today. Dr. Ashok Gupta has chosen a subject that has three facets, first is women related to Viksit Bharat.

Friends, most do not understand the contours of Viksit Bharat, we are aspiring for a Viksit Bharat@ 2047. A great marathon march is on for it.

All stakeholders are converging. Already in last few years, we have come to a very high level. We are the fifth largest global economy on the planet.

Globally, Viksit Bharat has not been defined. Viksit nation has not been defined but you have to read into it through several mechanisms and one is per capita income. We have to take our per capita income eightfold to give Bharat the status of a developed nation and for that some fundamentals are required.

One fundamental is, do we have the right ecosystem? The first element of the ecosystem is hope and possibility.

There is a mechanism in place where every individual can exploit his or her talent and potential to realise aspirations and dreams and for that, two things are required – one, equality before law. Equality before law, provided by the Constitution had eluded us for long, some people thought they are more equal than others, some thought we are beyond the reach of the law, we are above the law but a big change that has taken place is equality before law is now a ground reality. Privilege pedigree, that special class that carried an idea they have immunity from law are now being rendered accountable to law. That’s a big change. 

Any society driven by corruption, driven by greasing of the palm, driven by liaison agents, driven by a system that without corruption you cannot get a job or a contract is certainly against the rise of the youth. Corruption eats into the talented, corruption neutralises meritocracy.

A big change has taken place, power corridors once infested with corrupt liaison elements, those who extra-legally leveraged decision-making, who provided contracts and jobs without merit being a consideration, those corridors have been neutralised. You would have seen now that there is transparent accountable governance in the country and this has been brought about by technological penetration right up to the villages where money is transferred without intermediary.

Our youth is still seeking something else, yes, and that is they want to be partners, stakeholders, contributors in our journey for Viksit Bharat and the mechanism is number one, education. Education is fundamental, education is the most transformative mechanism of change.

There can be no change without education, education has to be quality education, education has to be purposeful education.

Education has to be beyond degree, pursuit of degrees one after another is not the right approach to education and that is why after three decades the country came to have national education policy that allows students full exploitation of their talent. They have been distanced from degree-orientated education.

It has been focused on skill education, aptitude. Simultaneously you can pursue courses by and large the nation has adopted the national education policy.

 Education brings about equality, education cuts into inequities. Education is a great leveller of societal system, education provides oxygen to democracy.

If we look into our Vedas, great emphasis was laid on education and participation of women. We lost the way somewhere in between but during that period in Vedas, the Vedic era, the earliest one, women were on the same footing.

They were policy makers, they were decision makers, they were guiding force. We lost the way somewhere, we are regaining it fast. Even right now we have a system. Come on, don’t cry, you are a boy. Be a man. अब यह बातें पुरानी हो गईं, कहने वाले को भी डर लगने लग गया है। 

I am saying this only to buttress my point. 

Now, we cannot dream of a Viksit Bharat without women and without education, women and education are the two wheels of the chariot that will drive the nation.

Its economy, its development journey and fructify in Viksit Bharat@ 2047, if not earlier.

The country has seen historic exponential development, economic upsurge unknown to us. The world class infrastructure, our opportunity basket is increasing day by day but I can tell you one thing and global institutions, the IMF, the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and all have spoken that India globally is the most happening place.

Look around any country, we are the best in terms of opportunity and investment.

An epochal development has taken place, a historic development has taken place, and that is women reservation in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures, Constitution has now provided one-third reservation in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures, this is the minimum, it can go more. Women will not be handicapped in contesting for general seat. Now, imagine a scene, more than one-third women in the Lok Sabha. They will be part of policy-making, they will be part of legislation making, they will be part of executive functions, they will be the driving force. This is the development of the century. The nation tried it for over three decades unsuccessfully but last year, it was a great success. I had the good fortune, privilege, and honour to be in the chair when it was passed in the Council of States, the House of Elders, the Upper House, the Rajya Sabha.

I have no doubt in saying you are 50% of humanity and in contribution your role is always more than 50% because you are natural repository of sensitive behaviour, sublime behaviour, spiritual conduct and full of warmth and empathy and therefore, I have no doubt that the role of women and education in Viksit Bharat is all important. I am happy that institutions like yours are nurturing it in the right spirit.

Let me remind you of a great saying of pre-Socratic era philosopher Heraclitus, he said, the only constant in life is change, and then he buttressed it by an instance, that the same person cannot enter the same river twice, because neither the person is the same nor the river is the same.

So you have to be always ready for change. But then you can’t be in captivity of change, you have to be part of the change which you like, you deserve.

Let me give you a small illustration, we are having another industrial revolution when it comes to technology. 

It is changing very fast, It is changing too fast for us to have our feet on the ground. A great challenge, also a great opportunity to keep on learning, be ahead of times, knowledge has to be acquired. I am sometimes pained that we talk about our Vedas, I would especially persuade the Vice-Chancellor to ensure that every student has a look at Vedas.

The moment you read Vedas you will come to know the rich legacy you have inherited, the kind of wisdom you will find there, knowledge you will find there. On every facet, from health to astronomy, from Physics to Chemistry, you will find everything.

Focus on that. 

To be well informed is a necessary condition for a person to be a good person for the nation because first and last, you have to always keep your nation above every other interest.

Remember my words, in times of need, in times of distress, in times of absolute necessity, in times of survivor like situations, a shortcut is the longest cut. Never ending road so always be on the right path, the path of righteousness, not only you should be on that path. You must exhibit a conduct worth emulation by others, that yes, I will be on the right path. A nation makes a difference by airports, which we have multiplied twice 70 to 147, expressways, ports, buildings, digitisation, internet, affordable housing, gas connections, everything. The quality of the human resource is important, a nation is known by the discipline of its citizens.

I would appeal to Dr. Ashok Gupta to be gracious enough to accept my invitation for visit of your girl students as my guest to the new building of parliament in Delhi. 

I will receive you there, if I’m in Delhi and I will try to be in Delhi. I managed to keep my word to the extent possible and I make things possible when it comes to girls.

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