Union Minister Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah addressed the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of B V Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering & Technology as the Chief Guest at Hubli, Karnataka, today. Several dignitaries including Union Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi, Chief Minister of Karnataka Shri Basavaraj Bommai, Swami Shri Brahmarishi Gurudev of Vishwa Dharma Chetna Manch, Tirupati were present on the occasion.

In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that today is the birth anniversary of the great freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai and the country can never forget his contribution. He said that today is also the birth anniversary the first Army Chief of independent India, K.M. Cariappa, who not only set many goals for the Indian Army but also achieved them through his bravery. Shri Shah said that in this journey of 75 years from independence till now, India has indisputably strengthened its position and showed its potential to the whole world. He said that since last 107 years, Karnataka Lingayat Education Society (KLE) has enlightened the lives of millions of people through education.

Shri Amit Shah said that the journey of KLE Society which started from a small school in 1916 has reached to 294 institutions today. About 1,38,000 students are studying here. Running this society for 107 years in a very democratic and transparent manner is an example for the education system of the entire country. He said that today, KLE Society is making a huge contribution in the health sector with infrastructure having capacity of more than 4000 beds. In this, there are 1700 health facilities where free treatment is provided to the poorest of the poor. Shri Shah said that KLE Technical University has had a bright history since 1947 till date and many of its students have contributed for the country and the world in many fields.

The Union Home Minister said that an indoor stadium of seating capacity of 3500 is built at a cost of about Rs 25 crore, has been inaugurated today. It has facilities of two courts each for badminton and squash, one court each for basketball and volleyball and tables tennis. Two separate gymnasiums for boys and girls are also made. He added that the promise made by KLE Society to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to send one of its students to the Olympics will be fulfilled very soon.

Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has laid the foundation to make India a great Nation, which was dreamt by our freedom fighters. Shri Shah added that India was at number 11 in world economic ranking from 2004 to 2014, but after Shri Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014, it leaped to 5^th position in span of 8 years. It shows our country’s fast progress across the world. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has cherished the dream of making India a 5 trillion dollar economy, after achieving this, many possibilities will arise for students of technical university like you.

Shri Amit Shah said that in this journey of 75 years from independence till now, India has indisputably strengthened its position and showed its potential to the whole world. Under Make in India Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has taken many initiatives to make India the production hub of the world, as a result of which India has reached to 5th place from 11th in the world economy today and is expected to reach the 3rd place by 2027. Shri Shah said that registrations of patents show the future of any country. In 2013-14, 3,000 applications used to come for patent registration, which increased to 1.5 lakh in the year 2021-22, this shows how far our youth have progressed in the field of research. He said that in 2013-14, out of 3000, 211 patents were registered, which has increased to more than 24000 in 2021-22. He said that under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, 4.3 Crore beneficiaries were given a loan of Rs 2,66,000 Crore. Shri Shah said that the Digital India Mission has opened many possibilities for the youth of the country. The Fit India Mission along with Khelo India has opened up many possibilities for the youth to advance in the field of sports. He said that new initiatives in the field of animation and gaming are also being taken. Along with this, under Suryoday Scheme, the Prime Minister has opened up areas like artificial intelligence, drones, semiconductor, space, genomics, pharmaceutical and green energy for the youth of the country. Shri Shah told the youth of the country that they should move out of the traditional thinking and framework and think new.

The Union Home Minister said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has opened immense possibilities for the youth in every field. Today, the number of IITs in the country has increased from 16 to 23, IIMs from 13 to 20, IIITs from 9 to 25, AIIMS from 7 to 22, medical colleges from 387 to 596 and universities from 723 to 1,043, this shows that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Under Modi, the Government of India has increased the base and scope of education. Apart from this, Shri Modi has also increased the number of colleges from 36,000 to 48,000. He said that the campus of National Forensic Science University will be built in North Karnataka. He said that forensic science is going to become a huge sector in the country in the coming days and to get trained human resources in this field, we have set up National Forensic Science University. This vision of Shri Modi will open a lot of possibilities for science students because in the coming days we are going to make forensic evidence compulsory in crimes of having more than 6 years of punishment and then, at least 50,000 forensic science scientists will be required. In this series, the opening of ninth campus of the National Forensic Science University of Gandhinagar is starting here today.

The Union Home and Cooperation Minister said that in 2022, India achieved a record export of about US $ 400 billion. The Prime Minister has taken many initiatives in the country. Earlier, no initiative was taken in the field of startups, in 2014 there were only three unicorn startups in the country, while today more than 70000 startups have been formed, of which there are more than 75 unicorn startups, more than 30% startups have been created by girl students. He said that 45% startups are from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, which shows that the youth of the country is full of enthusiasm and potential and wherever they are, no one can stop them from achieving success now.

Shri Amit Shah said that on the occasion of 75 years of independence, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi proposed to the country to celebrate the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and aimed at our young generation to understand, read and know the 90 years of freedom struggle from 1857 to 1947 and by taking inspiration from the lives of our freedom fighters, apply them in their lives. Shri Shah urged the gathering to read about 90 years of independence and said that we are breathing in free India because of the sacrifices made by the lakhs of people, we all are indebted to them.

The Union Home and Cooperation Minister said that it is not everyone's destiny to die for the country, but everyone has the right to live their life for the country. In the year of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, we all should take a pledge that no matter how successful we become in our lives but the goal should be the same that we have to create a great India and bring India to the first place in the world. Technical students studying here should become the biggest technocrats in the world, but at the same time keep the aim that India should be first in the field of technology in the world.

**********

RK/AY/AKS