Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah attended the 113th convocation ceremony of Gurukul Kangri University as the chief guest in Haridwar, Uttarakhand today. On this occasion, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chancellor of Gurukul Kangri Dr. Satyapal Singh and many other dignitaries were also present.

Shri Amit Shah wished all the countrymen on the occasion of Ram Navami and said that on the birthday of Lord Shri Rama, the students are going to start a new life from here today. He told the students that they will feel proud throughout their life that their education and convocation took place in a great institution like Gurukul Kangri. Shri Shah said that Maharishi Shraddhanand ji laid the foundation of Gurukul Kangri and it has grown in to a big organisation today. Gurukul Kangri is spreading the message of Maharishi Dayanand to the whole world and is proudly serving in the nation by keeping alive our mythological education system.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of  Cooperation  said that seeing the importance of Gurukul Kangri's education system, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, former presidents Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and many other personalities like Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Morarji Bhai Desai came here and worked to strengthen this education system. He said that it is a matter of pride for the batch passing out from here because this is the batch of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and the 200th birth anniversary of Maharishi Swami Dayanand. In this batch of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a total of 1800 students including 400 girl students and 105 PhD students will start a new life from here. Shri Shah also congratulated the students who won gold medals.

Shri Amit Shah said that on this holy land, Swami Shraddhanand ji lit the flame of Vedic education and took forward its tradition. Swami Shraddhanand ji brought the message of Maharishi Dayanand ji to grassroots level, which played a huge role in making India independent, promulgated and protected the concept of education and along with promotion of education in mother tongue, he played a huge role in providing important place to Hindi in the country. Shri Shah said that Swami Shraddhanand ji made significant efforts to take education out of the clutches of the British. To give new energy to our traditional education system, he combined Vedic values, ancient Indian culture, knowledge of Vedas-Upanishads and science of the whole universe with the modern subjects and made our education system complete in true sense.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that Swami Shraddhanand ji has made a huge contribution in reviving the education system explained through Panchkosha in Taittiriya Upanishad. He said that there is no doubt that the 121 year long history of Gurukul Kangri which provided foundation to renaissance of Vedic education will be written in golden letters in history. Shri Shah said that today the quality of education of Gurukul Kangdi University has increased. More than 870 research papers and 9 patents have been registered in the last academic session of the university. He said that Gurukul Kangri has created an auspicious confluence of Vedic education and modern education. He heartily congratulated the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor and all the teachers for this achievement. The Union Home Minister asked all the students receiving their degrees to always keep the message of Maharishi Dayanand close to their heart and try to follow the path shown by Swami Dayanand in their habits because this is the only way for the welfare of the soul and by following this path we can take the country forward.

Shri Amit Shah said that the Prime Minister of the country, Shri Narendra Modi has brought a New Education Policy, which imbibe Maharishi Dayanand ji's vision  of accessible education and Shraddhanand ji's message of amalgamation of Vedas and science. It also reflects the message of ‘education in mother tongue’ given by the ‘Father of the Nation’ Mahatma Gandhi and the message of ‘Education for All’ of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai. He said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has proposed the importance of mother tongue in the New Education Policy. He has given the formula of three languages and imparting primary education in the mother tongue so that students studying in their mother tongue will work for the welfare of the country and the whole world. Shri Shah said that education of engineering in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi and Bengali has started in 20 engineering colleges in 10 states in the country. Medical science education in Hindi language has started in Madhya Pradesh. He said that the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has started such a system in the country that now many examinations like JEE, NEET can be conducted in the mother tongue and students can contribute to the development of the country.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the new education policy has been made stream-less and class-less. Now science students will also get an opportunity to study history of the country and arts students to study science. This will give any them a chance to bring out their inner potential. He said that multiple entry, multiple exit is a special part of the New Education Policy, under which there is a provision of certificate after studying for one year, diploma after two years, degree after three years and research after studying for four years. The child can exit and enter at any level. Shri Shah said that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has made this arrangement so that our youth get a platform to stand and compete with the youth of the world and bring praises world over to ‘Maa Bharati’.

Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has created many opportunities for the youth through Startup India. In the year 2016, the number of startups in the country was 724, which has increased to more than 70000 in 2022. Of these, more than 10,000 startups were formed during the Covid-19 period. Before 2016, there were only 4 unicorn startups and today 107 startups have joined the unicorn club in the country. He said that 44% of the total startups are run by women, which shows that women can also make a huge contribution to this country. 50% startups have come from Tier-II and Tier-III cities and this is an inspiration for all of us because we all come from small villages and towns. Shri Shah said that earlier the number of patent registrations in the country was very less. In the year 2013-14, 3000 patent applications were made, which has increased to 1.5 lakh in 2021-22.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that  under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, there has been a huge increase in the number of IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, Medical Colleges, Universities and other colleges. He said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has uplifted the pride of both India and Indians across the world. There were many such issues related to the security of the country and it seemed that they would never be solved; Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has solved them within no time. He said that from removing of Article 370 to securing the country, taking country’s economy to number 5 from number 11 in world economy ranking, protecting the borders of the country or doing surgical strike and air strike to teach a lesson to the neighbouring country, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has increased the country's pride in every field. Shri Shah said that  in ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, Prime Minister Modi has set a target in front of the country that after 25 years, in the centenary of the country's independence, 130 crore Indians should make efforts to build an India which would be first in every field in the world, the youth have a special responsibility in this. Shri Shah requested the youth graduated today to strive throughout their life to make India as envisioned by Maharishi Dayanand and Swami Shraddhanand and always try to take India to the forefront of the world with their efforts.

*********

RK/AY/AKS