Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah attended the 71st Convocation of Maharaja Sayajirao University as Chief Guest at Vadodara, Gujarat today.

In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that this is the land of Maharaja Sayajirao and it is renowned as Sanskar Nagri. He said that when the whole country was experiencing slavery, Maharaja Sayajirao did not allow the same to happen in this entire region. He said that on this land, Maharaja gave shelter to Shri Aurobindo, Baba Saheb Dr B.R. Ambedkar got the opportunity here to study further, by taking education from here Vinoba Bhave, KM Munshi, Hansa Mehta and Dadasaheb Phalke made a huge contribution in taking India forward.

The Union Home Minister said that only those people are remembered who work for the society, country and the world. He said that on this day, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had entered Burma and said that he is stepping into independent India. Shri Shah said that despite of having lots of suffering in his life, a person like Netaji had made many efforts, and even today, the world respects and remembers Netaji because he always worked for others.

Shri Amit Shah said that today 6,713 boys and 8,048 girl students are stepping into their journey ahead after completing their student life. He asked the students that on the basis of the education received from here, they have to try to improve the society and take it forward. He said that e-inauguration of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Gaikwad Institute of Design has also taken place here today.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that Maharaja Sayajirao tried to establish a type of governance throughout his ruling period, which is known even today. He said that during the rule of Maharaja Sayajirao, there was not a single village, which was not having a library, there was no girl child who was not educated. Shri Shah said that during his rule, Maharaja worked a lot on many subjects like education, establishment of justice, upliftment of the downtrodden, irrigation, agriculture and social reforms. He said that Babasaheb Dr.B.R. Ambedkar encouraged women's education, abolished purdah system at that time, banned child marriage, made an independent law for divorce, made a revolutionary beginning by bringing widow remarriage act, and changed the dimensions of education for employment generation.

Shri Amit Shah asked the students receiving their degrees that if they try to understand the New Education Policy, their concepts about the utility of education will be clear. He said that New Education Policy imbibes Sayajirao's idea of accessible education, Sardar Patel's idea of empowerment, Dr. Ambedkar ji’s idea of knowledge  based education, Sri Aurobindo's idea of cultural and nationalist education and Gandhi ji's idea of education in mother tongue. He told the students that one should never avoid their mother tongue and should come out of the inferiority complex that language provides acceptance. He said that any person can think well, can do research with better ability in his own language and with this, his analysis and decision making ability also increases. He said that there can be no greater medium of personality building than one's own language. He said that the oldest languages belong to our country, the best grammar, literature, poems and history are in our own languages. Shri Shah said that until we do not promote our languages, we cannot improve the future of the country. He said that in order to maintain the importance of language in the New Education Policy, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has made a provision to make primary education compulsory in mother tongue. He said that in the new education policy, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has made education streamless and classless, and when this happens, you can think freely and get access to the world of knowledge. Shri Shah said that the aim of education is not to get a degree, a good job or comforts in personal life, but to become a complete human and this is possible only through streamless and classless education.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that this journey of 75 years after the country's independence is a journey of bright achievements and to celebrate the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had put three objectives before us. Firstly, the youth of the country should be made aware of the freedom struggle and the pre independence history. Second, to feel proud about the achievements of 75 years. Thirdly, by making the journey of 75 to 100 years a journey of resolutions and resolving to make India first in every field of the world. He said that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has called the period of 75 to 100 years as ‘Amrit Kaal’ and has also called it the period of ‘Sankalp se Siddhi’. He said that when 130 crore people take one step forward, the country takes 130 crore steps forward. He said that the responsibility of making India great and first in every field of the world rests with the youth of the country.

Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has provided immense opportunities for the youth of the country. He said that there were 724 start-ups in the country in 2016, which have increased to more than 70,000 start-ups by 2022. Additionally, 107 start-ups are in the unicorn club, compared to just 4 in 2016. He said that out of total start-ups in the country, 45 per cent are run by women and girls and 45 per cent start-ups are in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Shri Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi started the ‘Make in India’ scheme by identifying 25 sectors and many new sectors were opened under it, as a result India's merchandise exports have crossed $400 billion and due to the PLI scheme investment of worth Rs.4 lakh crore has come. Shri Shah said that by skill development through the three schemes for skilling, upskilling and reskilling, the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has brought out and refined the hidden talent of children. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has opened many areas for capacity building of the youth. Shri Shah said that at the time of the centenary of the country's independence, India will definitely be first in every field of the world.

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