New Delhi, April 30: The Vice President expressed his concern over the increasing role of caste and money in public life and called upon media to shun giving prominence to coverage based on caste and community criteria, especially during elections.
Delivering the First Dr Rajaram Jaipuria Memorial Lecture on Education, Entrepreneurship and Ethics at the Convention Center named after Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar in New Delhi today, the Vice President wanted the people to choose their public representatives on the basis of four C’s – Character, Caliber, Capacity an Conduct and said that unfortunately these four C’s were being subverted by some people by replacing them with four other C’s – Caste, Cash Criminality and Community.
Shri Naidu wondered the purpose behind media focusing on caste data in every constituency and wanted the media to focus on the public representatives past performance in legislatures and parliament in terms of the number of questions asked, matters raised on public importance and their commitment towards peoples welfare rather than giving coverage to tactics like stalling the proceedings.
Shri Naidu expressed his displeasure over diminishing values in public life and referred to increasing trend of changing party loyalties by politicians. He said that changing parties has become a fashion and politicians were making a mockery of democracy.
Shri Naidu has urged educational institutions to focus on skill-literacy and said that India’s demographic advantage could turn into a demographic dividend only if there was focus on skill development and continuous upgradation of knowledge and skills.
He said that it should be mandated for all private institutions to have dedicated skill development centers. He also wanted every technical institute to have an interface with the industry to give exposure to students about the requirements of employers.
Pointing out that India was a young nation, compared to China, USA, Europe and Japan, the Vice President said that by ensuring skill development and imparting latest training in various vocations to the youth, India would be able to cater to the global requirements of the skilled workforce apart from meeting the demand within the country. He called for equipping the younger generation with employable skills and training them to become job creators instead of job seekers.
The Vice President has also observed that the time has come for India to re-establish itself as a knowledge and innovation hub. He suggested a complete overhaul of higher education system to cater to the fast changing requirements of the 21st century in different sectors.
Expressing his concern over degeneration in ethical and moral outlook in different walks of life, the Vice President said education should lay a strong foundation towards building a society that upholds morals, ethics and values of humanism with an unwavering commitment.
He also called upon the industry bodies to have a code of conduct for their members in the wake of the recent happenings involving big businessmen.
Shri Naidu also recalled the Seven Sins mentioned by Mahatma Gandhi: ‘Wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, religion without sacrifice, and politics without principles’ and wanted everybody to understand them.
Observing that India was the fastest growing economy in the world and set to become the third largest economy in 10-15 years, the Vice President wanted all nations to have an arrangement for exchange of economic information, particularly from tax heavens. He also wanted United Nations to play a key role in ensuring the extradition of economic fugitives in the countries where they are wanted.
Referring to the rise in Non Communicable Diseases (NCD), Shri Naidu advised the youth to shun junk food and consume a healthy, time tested traditional food. He also wanted the youth to be physically fit.
Shri Shishir Jaipuria, the Chairman of Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions, Shri S.K Mohapatra, the Director of Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions and several prominent members of the business community and academia were present at the occasion.
