Address At The Inauguration Of Dav College Golden Jubilee Celebrations At Dav College,

ADDRESS

I am indeed delighted to participate in the inauguration of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the DAV College. I have deep respects for Swami Dayanand Saraswati the founder of Arya Samaj- a socio-religio-cultural movement. Education was one of his mission. I have respects also to Mahatma Hansraj the path-finder of DAV institutions. When I am in the DAV college, Amritsar, I was thinking what thoughts I can share with you young students. I would like to share today with you three aspects. One is the purpose of education, two creating leadership and empowerment.

What can I do for you"

At this juncture, I was thinking what thoughts I can share with you. Every one of us has gone through the various phases of education from the childhood to profession. A scene appears in front of me. It is, a child, a teenager, an adult and a leader. How each one reacts to one situation? The situation is human need. The child asks, "what can you do for me"? The teenager says, "I want to do it alone". The young person proclaims, "let us do it together". The leader offers, "what can I do for you". So, the principals have got a tremendous responsibility to transform a child into a leader - the transformation of 'what can you do for me' to 'what I can do for you'. That will demand a principal to be a visionary with an inspiring capability. Also the principal has to ensure that teachers impart learning to the children in such a way to bring out the best in them, for this he has to be a good teacher himself.

Vision for the nation

We got freedom in 1947, that was the result of first vision for the nation. This vision created best of leaders in many fields like politics, philosophy, science & technology and industry. In many aspects of life, improvement in literacy, agricultural products, strategic areas, certain small and large-scale industries took place. Now more than fifty years have gone by and we are called as one of the hundreds of developing countries, in a distinct way a separation from G-8 countries. We have many challenges. Nearly 300 million people who are below the poverty line have to join the mainstream of a good life. 100% literacy, health for all, multiple industrial and agricultural productivity and life style with value system has to emerge. Hence we need the second vision for the nation to become developed.

Young in Developed India Mission

Developed India is no more a vision. The Prime Minister, on Independence Day, has announced that we will become a Developed India by 2020. The largest beneficiary of this dream when realized will be you, the young. Hence it is important that you contribute in its initial stages of realization and shape it to the best of your abilities with in your academic and family confines. The biggest concern of the parents and the children in your age group is about the job prospects when you complete your education. Without worrying about minor variations in the subjects of your pursuit, your opportunities and future will be brighter if you excel in whatever subject you undertake to study. At the frontier there are no borders. The employment opportunities are many, when a person becomes very selective like Government jobs, then there is tremendous constraints comes. If you open up your thoughts for entrepreneurship,design, industry, direct participation in agriculture with innovative ideas, making IT products etc. Most important thing for future young generation is to make up its mind to contribute in all sectors. The tool can be knowledge and physical contribution. In student life inspite of various constraints you can uniquely contribute for national development.

Knowledge empowerment and leadership

The society advances only by empowerment. Empowerment itself is a movement started by our forefathers. When the child is empowered by the parents, at various phases of growth, the child transforms into a responsible citizen. When the teacher is empowered with knowledge and experience, good young human beings with value systems take shape. When individual or a team is empowered with technology, transformation to higher potential for achievement is assured. When the leader of any institution empowers his or her people, leaders are born who can change the nation in multiple areas.

Five Mega Projects to transform the nation to Developed Country

We have identified five areas where India has a core competence for an integrated action. (1) Agriculture and food processing - we have to put a target of 360 million tons of food and agricultural production. Other areas of agriculture and agro food processing would bring prosperity to rural people and speed up the economic growth. (2) Reliable and quality electric power for all parts of the country. (3) Education and Healthcare - we have seen, based on the experience, education and healthcare are inter related. (4) Information Technology - This is one of our core competence. We believe, this area can be used to promote education in remote areas and also to create national wealth. (5) Strategic sectors - This area, fortunately, witnessed the growth in nuclear technology, space technology and defence technology.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the teachers have a great mission to ignite the minds of the young. The ignited minds of the young are the most powerful resource on the earth, above the earth and under the earth. That makes me recall the saintly saying of Maha Rishi Patanjali in Yoga SUTHRAS: "When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be".

My dear students, I wish you all to strive to empower the nation by generating learned young with integrity. It is indeed a big mission. God bless you.