Address to School Children

Dynamics of the Young

Friends,

I am indeed delighted to address all of you on the Children's Day which is Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday and is an occasion to celebrate the achievements of the young, lead them to their dreams and work for their realization. I realise, this gathering of 40,000 children from 375 different schools represent the 300 million youth of our nation. My greetings to all of you.

Marvels of Universe

Friends, we should note that human mind is a unique gift. You can enter into Marvels of Universe only if you have curiosity and thinking. I suggest, thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life.

Thinking is progress.

. Non thinking is stagnation to the individual, organization and the country.

Thinking leads to action.

Knowledge without action is useless and irrelevant.

Knowledge with action brings prosperity.

Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work. Like Nobel Laureate Subramaniam Chandrasekar, who discovered the black hole through a quest, why most of the stars shine and a few die. Today, using Chandrasekar limit we can calculate how long the sun will shine. Similarly, Sir CV Raman looked at the sea and the sky, and questioned why the sea should be blue? This led to the birth of Raman Effect. He found that the blue colour of the sea was due to the molecular scattering of light and was not a case of reflection of the sky in water. Albert Einstein, armed with the complexity of the universe, asked the question how the universe was born. The famous equation E=mc2 arrived, which can be used for generation of electricity using nuclear materials and also led to nuclear weapons.

I was thinking what thoughts I should share with you on this Children's Day. Can I talk to you how India became self-sufficient in food? Can I talk to you about the first SLV -3 launch which successfully injected the Rohini Satellite in the orbit? Can I talk to you about the successful launch of the AGNI and the payload reaching 2000 km target which brought the country into the select group of nations having IRBM capability? Can I talk to you about our nuclear tests of 1998 at Pokhran which made the country a nuclear weapon state? Can I talk to you about the TIFAC mission which generated the Vision 2020 document, the road-map for transforming India into a developed nation? Or can I talk to you about my societal missions for providing cost effective healthcare to the underprivileged? Can I talk to you on how our software engineers are able to achieve an export target of over 12 billion dollars?

No, I am not going to talk to you on any one of these achievements. I would like to share with you my dream India of the year 2020 and what the student community can contribute for realizing the vision.

India of 2020

Let us visualize how India would be transformed in the year 2020. When you grow up as young citizens and occupy various positions in the society, India will be a prosperous country. There is no begging on the streets or no children working as labourers. Children, especially in the age group of 5 to 20, attend good schools and get value based quality education without exception. They have excellent teachers supported by state-of-the-art infrastructural and technological facilities such as video-conferencing and tele-education through computers. They hear lectures and interact with noted specialists from any part of the country. Information and Communication Technology plays a vital role in the overall development of an individual, society and nation as a whole. Youngsters acquire more and more knowledge and information through internet, thereby becoming lifelong autonomous learners. Higher education is available at an affordable cost for common man. Lot of employment and entrepreneurial opportunities available in various fields resulting in 'reverse brain-drain'. Innovation in products makes us globally competitive, provides social gain to the entire community and substantially enhances the per capita Gross Domestic Product. India is a member of G-8 countries and a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Infrastructure and healthcare

Physical distance shrinks and travel time reduces to half or even lower due to excellent transportation system. All the urban amenities reach to the villages in all parts of the country. Villages are connected through modern high-speed buses running on multi-lane roads. There is uninterrupted electricity supply even to the remote areas through non-conventional energy sources such as solar energy and biomass. Everybody enjoys pollution-free, clean and healthy environment all around. Fully equipped health care services are available in the villages through mobile clinics and tele-medicine facilities. Our country is free from AIDS, Tuberculosis, Polio, Malaria and other water-borne diseases. The inter/intra-networking of village clusters provides employment opportunities in agriculture and agro-processing, cottage, handicraft and other small scale industries. Rivers are networked preventing disastrous calamities like drought and flood and ample potable water is available. This also results in progressive transformation in many areas such as irrigation, agriculture, environment, transportation, power generation and tourism.

Societal reforms

The economic development is supported by social and cultural growth, leading to social upliftment of downtrodden, especially women. The system as a whole protects the rights of all the citizens. Gender discrimination, dowry deaths, mental and physical harassment do not exist. Women are 100% literate and are equitable partners in employment, entrepreneurship and democratic decision-making bodies at all levels. Women are secure and find a place of pride in the society. Senior citizens and physically/mentally challenged members are active partners of the society. Technology applications enable them to live a near-normal and energetic life.

Common man lives a healthy and peaceful life. Development and implementation of Information and Communication Technology through e-governance leads to assured availability of all the services relating to basic commodities, water, electricity, sanitation, housing, transportation, education, health care, levies and payments etc. with speed and transparency, thus removing the day-to-day stress of the common man.

Performance excellence

Many amongst you are gold medallists in Olympics, Nobel laureates and recipients of many prestigious international awards. Research and advancement in the field of science and technology enables us to transfer technologies to needy countries and we are exporters instead of importers. We are completely self-reliant in defence systems. All our border States flourish with economic prosperity instead of armed forces guarding them from all sides. India's space and nuclear programme reaches new heights. I visualize a scene, in the year 2021, when at the age of 90, I visit a Space Port for boarding the Space plane to reach another planet and return safely as one of the passengers.

Many of you have been asking me what they can do for realizing the Developed India vision. As students, I would suggest you can do the following:

Excel in Studies

It is important that you contribute to the realization of the vision to the best of your abilities within 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.

Student Centric Literacy Movement

One of the important indicators of a developed nation is the literacy level. Educating a nation of a billion people is not a small task. It requires the participation of all the stake holders starting from the young. Each one of you could visit the villages on holidays and contribute to removal of illiteracy of at least ten persons and light the quest for knowledge in them. Work with consortium of industries, philanthropists, NGOs and ensure that this task is sustainable and its impact can be measurable and quantified.

The educational institutions have to gear-up to evolve a curriculum that is sensitive to the social and technological needs of the Developed India. Student activities towards such missions could be seamlessly integrated with the existing curriculum so that the future members of the knowledge society are fully developed in all aspects of societal transformation.

Student Centric Eco-care Movement

The trees and vegetation around us are the best transformers of energy from the sun on a sustainable basis for our utilization. In the process they provide us the most efficient way of cleaning up our environment, shelter for all living species, a source of food and energy. They are often associated with serene environments that facilitate creative thoughts and actions. Without pain and tears, 300 million of you, if you plant ten saplings, you will add 3 billion trees, and mother India will bless you. The tree planting may be done in your house, school or in the village your school adopts. Few years from now every one us, must be a proud guardian of trees planted by the young. This dynamic movement will echo the children's concern for eco-friendly future.

Now I would like to administer a ten point oath for you to enable you to focus on the task ahead.

TEN POINT OATH

1. I will pursue my education with dedication and I will excel in it.

2. I will teach at least 10 persons to read and write who at present cannot do so.

3. I will plant at least 10 saplings and shall ensure their growth through constant care.

4. I will visit rural and urban areas and permanently wean away at least 5 persons from addiction and gambling.

5. I will constantly endeavor to remove the pain of my suffering brethren.

6. I will not support any communal or language differentiation.

7. I will be honest and set an example for others to follow.

8. I will work for becoming an enlightened citizen.

9. I will always be a friend of the mentally and physically challenged and will work hard to make them feel normal, like the rest of us.

10. I will proudly celebrate the success of my country and my people.

Unity in diversity

People have equal respect and tolerance for all faiths. Hate and anger is substituted by love and peace. Religion graduates into spirituality. Universal brotherhood is followed by all the citizens.

Is all this a dream? Dreams always become the vision, vision transforms into missions and missions generate hundreds of goal oriented projects. I am sure all of you will definitely bring about this transformation with your sweat, hard-work, enuthusiasm and perseverance. Definitely we will live in a beautiful nation.

I wish you all success.