Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that India has been the mother of democracy in the world. It has been an integral part of our civilization and our way of life, and Dr.Ambedkar laid a strong foundation to move forward while strengthening India’s democratic heritage.
He said this while addressing the Association of Indian Universities’ 95th Annual Meet and National Seminar of Vice-Chancellors on Wednesday through video conferencing.
During the occasion, he also launched four books related to Dr.Ambedkar, in connection with the 130th birthday of Dr.Ambedkar. All four books were authored by Kishor Makwana.
The PM paid tribute to Bharat Ratna Dr. Ambedkar and said that celebrating his birthday during the period when the country is celebrating 75 years of Independence gives us new energy.
Walk on the path Ambedkar showed:
Talking about the philosophy of Babasaheb, the Prime Minister said that Dr Ambedkar considered knowledge, self-respect and politeness as his three revered deities. Self-respect comes with knowledge and makes a person aware of his or her rights. Through equal rights, emerge social harmony and country progresses. Our education system and universities have this responsibility to carry the country forward on the path shown by Ambedkar.
Modi elaborated on Dr.Ambedkar’s conviction for equal rights and equal opportunity for all. The Prime Minister emphasized that schemes like Jandhan accounts are leading to financial inclusion of every person and through DBT money is reaching directly to their accounts.
He also said that measures like Jal Jeevan Mission, free housing, free electricity, support during pandemic and initiatives for women empowerment are taking forward the dreams of Dr.Ambedkar.
Commenting on the 4 books, the Prime Minister said that these books are not less than modern classics and convey the universal vision of Babasaheb. He hoped that such books will be widely read by students in colleges and universities.
NEP empowers students:
On National Education Policy, the Prime Minister said that every student has certain capabilities. These capabilities pose three questions before the student and the teacher. First- what they can to do? Second, what is their potential if they are properly taught? And, third, what they want to do?
The answer to the first question is the inner strength of the students. However, if institutional strength is added to that inner strength, their development will get expanded and they will be able to do what they want to do.
Quoting Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, the Prime Minister said that the NEP is aimed at fulfilling Dr Radhakrishnan’s vision of education that frees and empowers the student to participate in national development. Education management should be undertaken keeping whole world as a unit but also, focusing on Indian character of education.
India, the future center of technology:
Talking about the growing demand for skills in emerging Self-Reliant India, the PM said that India is being looked upon as future centre of Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, big data, 3D printing, Virtual Reality and Robotics, mobile technology, geo-informatics, smart healthcare and defence sector. To meet the requirement of skills, Indian Institutes of skills are being set up in three big metropolitans of the country. In Mumbai, first batch of Indian Institute of Skills has already started.
In 2018, Future Skills Initiative was launched with NASSCOM, informed the Prime Minister. He said that we want that all universities should be multi-disciplinary as we want to give students flexibility. He called upon the Vice Chancellors to work for this goal.