Dr. M.S Ramaiah Ji was a Karamayogi all his life, walking on Kartavya Path to transform education and health scenario in the country. To be associated with his birth centenary celebrations is a moment for all of us to take pride.

I congratulate the chairman Gokula Education Foundation, the Board of Trustees, members of Ramaiah family and everyone present here to commemorate the life and achievements of great Karamayogi  and institution builder, Dr. M.S Ramaiah.

His life exemplifies sublimity of our civilization ethos. Humble beginnings… he set a target, achieved it and then it is his Sanskars that family members are taking the journey on incremental trajectory.

“बिना शिक्षा के सब कुछ अधूरा है” (everything is incomplete without education); Education is the most effective conveyance of transformation of society and generating an ecosystem which was very dear to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

Dr. B.R Ambedkar, the architect of Indian constitution, a great visionary had those ideas in our preamble; that is something we all have to work for.

On this day, when we are in Amrit Kaal and we are seeing India of a different nature. India is on the rise as never before and rise of India is unstoppable. The entire world is recognizing it.

We have become a prime destination of Investment and Opportunity among the large economies of the world.

In September 2022; what a glorified moment for all of us, India earned the distinction of being the fifth largest economy on the planet. The second part; we overtook our erstwhile colonial rulers, our economy is now bigger than that of UK who ruled us for long.

Thanks to visionary steps affirmative governmental policies at all levels. There is no doubt that by the turn of the decade we will be the third largest economy on the planet.

A big challenges before the nation is to realize our final goals when we reach 2047 (centenary of our independence). I have no doubt that young impressionable minds before me in prestigious institutions like yours and elsewhere are the warriors and real game changers to ensure what India will be in 2047.

It is in this context, I call upon everybody here to take pride in being Indians. We must always keep our nation first. We must be proud of our achievements.

In my capacity as vice president, I have travelled abroad. As Governor West Bengal, I have seen the developments. What the country has achieved some others can't even contemplate or imagine.

Take for instance COVID which was a challenge to the humanity. It was a non-discriminatory challenge to every geographical region and we by virtue of our population of 1.4 billion had a tough task. People were worried, “What will happen to India” and now people are asking, "How did India do it? How did India do so successfully?” 220 Crore vaccination doses imparted to all citizens free and all digitally mapped.

Friends, this has not happened even in the west and this is on account of our people, our policies, and vision of our leadership.

I am sometimes surprised and I call upon the young people and intelligentsia and journalists to reflect with these achievements, the world is stunned, the kind of ecosystem of growth that has been brought about in infrastructure growth, technology growth, in the field of education and health.

Why should we allow some people to tarnish, taint, downsize, and degrade the achievements of our hardworking people? I call upon you to think about it.

Our great institutions are now flourishing but if we dig in the past and go into historical perspective, India was home to the most celebrated educational institutions with the Global Minds. We were home to the Nalanda, Taxila, Vallabhi, Vikramshila to name a few.

It is very satisfying moment that the visionary Dr M.S Ramaiah created one institution and under that umbrella, there are a number of institutions that are growing. It indicates one thing we are on our way to regaining our past glory. It is a matter of time, by 2047 both in economy, education, health and other societal parameters we shall be guiding the world.

This year is particularly significant. India is the president of G-20 and its impact is being felt everywhere. We have seen footfalls from several countries leadership in various fields, including in the city of Bangalore.

The city of Bangalore, the nerve centre for positive growth of young minds, giving full freedom to the innovation, which is a rare opportunity. Never in the history of this country, was voice of India heard as it is being heard now.

Indian Prime Minister has given two thoughts in the last one year. Those thoughts are consistent with our thought process of thousands of years. One was last year in the beginning: This is not an era of expansion. India is perhaps the only country that historically has never taken recourse to expansion; and a second event this year and the world has applauded it: War is not a solution to any problem; dialogue and diplomacy are the only way out.

In this perspective, I call upon everyone, particularly young minds; they must grab the opportunity. Now we have an ecosystem where every young mind is allowed to fully exploit his or her potential and talent and register accomplishments.

To my young friends, I will give my piece of advice: Have no tension, have no stress. Don't be bogged down by competitive scenario. Don't hesitate to try because there can be a mistake; Nothing big has been achieved without there being falls

I can tell you the greatest injustice a brilliant mind can do to humanity, an action that can impede our growth is - to have a brilliant idea and not to execute it.

I have no doubt There is something unique in our DNA, we have innovation, research, enterprise, entrepreneurship in our DNA and this is what we have to do. Go to any corner of the world today, you can see the strength of India's intellect, the world is benefiting. (हमारे डीएनए में कुछ अजीब है, हमारे डीएनए में इनोवेशन है, रिसर्च है, एंटरप्राइज है, एंटरप्रेन्योरशिप है और यही करना है कि आज दुनिया के किसी भी कोने में चले जायें, भारत की बुद्धि का लोहा देखने को मिलता है,).

When I started my career and became a lawyer, I had to struggle to get a loan of Rs.6000 from the bank for the library. I am thankful to that bank manager who gave me 6000 rupees without security for my library.

(6000 रुपये लाइब्रेरी के लिए बैंक से कर्ज लेने के लिए मुझे मशक्कत करनी पड़ी। मैं आभारी हूं  उस बैंक मैनेजर का जिसने मुझे बिना सिक्योरिटी 6000 रुपये मेरी लाइब्रेरी के लिए दिए। हम कहां पर आ गए हैं). Today all you need is an idea, and funds are no difficulty.

Look at our start-ups, the unicorns, look at the investment being made there in and all created by our young minds. We are world leaders.

All this is possible because now we have a government that thinks big, executes big, believes in its human resource and results are for everyone to see.

After 34 years, one revolutionary step came in the country and I also got an opportunity to participate in it since I was the Governor of the State of West Bengal at that time. (34 साल के बाद देश में एक क्रांतिकारी कदम आया और मुझे भी उसमें शरीक होने का मौका मिला क्योंकि में उस वक्त मैं पश्चिम बंगाल का राज्यपाल था) and that was New Education Policy- 2020.

Evolution of this education policy was a long drawn process, getting input from lakhs of stakeholders, this new education policy is a game changer. It will revolutionize our education system,  it will make it skill oriented, it will distance us from degree orientated culture, it will put us on a productive path. The twin objectives of inclusion and excellence will be achieved.

Over the last 8-9 years, two colleges have been established every day and a university every week.

When the people of the world come to know about this, they are surprised. 

(जब दुनिया के लोगो को ये पता लगता है तोह अचंभित होते है )

Since this is a very special occasion, I will make a particular appeal to the Chairman of the Gokula Education Foundation. Please take lead. One human resource which we must tap is the alumni. We must develop alumni culture in every institution. Alumni organizations are the best medium to give back to the society in the true sense. Alumni constitute spinal strength not only of the institution, but of the entire sector. I therefore appeal pleased have a confederation of alumni associations and this can start start from city of Bangalore. All India confideration of alumni associations that will be a think tank of great depth and that will help us address issues keep on coming.

Friends, India is on the rise, but we Indians have to do our work.
For the first time, when the matter of Swachh Bharat came up, some people felt strange of what the PM of our country was doing (जब पहली बार स्वच्छ भारत की बात आई तो कुछ लोगो को अजीब लगा कि देश का PM क्या कर रहा है). It has caught up. There are toilets now in the villages. Development has taken place and it has become an industry also. But I ask you a question that any Indian who has gone abroad has never thrown anything outside from the car, and there was a time when we considered it a right in our country that the road is our dustbin. This is changing. What should be our discipline on the road, if this too takes place today, young influential minds coordinate it, the picture of India will change further. 

(पर में आप से प्रश्न पूछता हूं कि कोई भी  Indian अभी विदेश गया हो उसमें कभी केले का छिलका गाड़ी से बाहर नहीं फेंका, और एक जमाना था कि हम अपने देश में अधिकार समझते की रोड हमारा डस्टबिन है। ये दृष्टिकोंण बदल रहा है। सड़क पर हमारा क्या अनुशान हो, ये भी अगर इसको आज ठान ले, युवा प्रभावशाली दिमाग इसे समन्वय करे, भारत की तस्वीर और बदल जाएगी।)

When India speaks, the world listens and the world is waiting for what India will say, when it will say and how much it will say. India is taking steps in international arena keeping in mind its own interests. 

I also want to share my a pain with your all. Dr. Ambedkar played an important role in drafting India's constitution. For three years, Constituent Assembly debated. There was dialogue, debate, discussion, deliberation. The problem before them was complex, there were many contentious issues, people held opposite views, it was difficult to reconcile, yet (उनके सामने समस्या जटिल थी, अनेक विवादित मुद्दे थे, लोगो के मत विपरीत थे, सामंजस्य बिठाना मुश्किल था, फिर भी) Constituent Assembly did not have a single disturbance, Constituent Assembly did not have a single disruption. No one shouted slogans, no one came to the well, no one showed placards. When the people who gave the constitution for the country did such a great job for us, what is the concern that we cannot follow their example.

As Chairman Rajya Sabha what I see is a cause of concern for you all.

Lakhs & crores are spent for every minutes of Rajya Sabha. With disruption, you cannot control the government system. (राज्य सभा के 1-1- मिनट के लिए आपके करोड़ खर्च होते है, डिसरप्शन होता है, उससे सरकारी तंत्र को आप लगाम नहीं लगा सकते.)  Rajya Sabha is the platform to hold the government accountable to hold the executive accountable.

There has to be a mass movement. I appeal to young minds. We are there in Rajya Sabha and Parliament to facilitate that destination of the nation is on right track. We have to exemplify our conduct which everyone can emulate, which everyone can follow.

We don't want our boys and girls to follow disruption, we don’t want them to appreciate shouting of slogans, showing placards and therefore my appeal to you to generate an atmosphere, generate public opinion, use every medium that is available so that we can persuade, we request our parliamentarians, that in the temple of democracy, our conduct must make us proud. Our conduct must be for development of the country.

What will happen in the Temple of Education other than studies (अंदाज़ा कीजिये कि अगर टेम्पल ऑफ़ एजुकेशन में पढाई नहीं होगी तो क्या होगा.) Same about the power of democracy. I'm leaving this thought with young minds. My young friends, I'm doing this with a lot of hope. Because what India will be in 2047, some of us may be in late evening of their lives, but you will be in prime of your youth, you will be in saddle, you will be in command and therefore every year till 2047, when India has to climb as the world leader in every aspect- economy and other factors- you have to be vigilant. 

I'm sure, my young friends will take note of my fervent appeal, my appeal  is non partisan. My appeal is not concerning a stakeholder in politics. My appeal is because we are stakeholders in growth of the nation. We are the stakeholders in governance so that the preamble of the Constitution given by Dr. BR Ambedkar is realized.

Jai Hindi, Jai Bharat!

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MS/RK/RC

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