The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that skill development should be a continuous process and the innovations must help making the lives of people better. He was addressing the gathering at the Valedictory of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of Educational Institutions run by Nachimuthu Industrial Association (NIA), in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu today.
Calling Arutchelvar Dr. N. Mahalingam, the founder of the institution, an ideal person who had contributed immensely for the uplift of the people living in rural Tamil Nadu, the Vice President said that such qualities should be emulated by young and the politicians of the present generation. Dr. Mahalingam was an MLA, educationist, philanthropist and was a contemporary of Late Kamaraj, C. Subramanya Bharathi, C. Rajagopala Chari. He gave up politics and worked for education & rural development. He was awarded Padma Bhushan to his invaluable social work, he said. Character, Calibre, Capacity and Conduct should be the guiding principles for people in public life, he added.
The Vice President expressed concern over the rising urban rural divide and stressed the need to create urban amenities such as educational institutions, uninterrupted electricity, access to drinking water and medical facilities at affordable cost for the benefit of people. He argued in favour of a bias towards rural areas in allocating funds, creating infrastructure at par with urban areas.
Addressing a young gathering of school children, the Vice President highlighted the need to acquire skills to grab the opportunities in the technology driven job market. Develop the habit of upgrading your skill set in line with the changing technology, he said. Skill development forms a fitting bulwark against the increasing vagaries of the global business environment and honing and polishing skills should be a continuous practice, he added.
Quoting report by a leading employment solutions company that claimed that more than 90% of the engineering graduates of India were unemployable, the Vice President cautioned the young students understand the seriousness of the situation. He has asked teachers & educational institutions to take a good hard look at the curricula and the teaching method so that the gap between a classroom and the workplace can be bridged.
The Vice President said that government of India is extremely sensitive to the dreams and aspirations of young India and is doing everything possible in its power to support, nurture and empower the youth of the country. It is up to young people to make use of this opportunity, he added.
Tasking the universities, colleges and premier institutions to focus on innovation, the Vice President said that innovations must help making the lives of people better. Innovations should keep in mind the status of our environment as well. He highlighted the need to use Science & Technology to protect the nature and take steps to restore the lost balance in nature.
Earlier the Vice President has inaugurated the Diamond Jubilee Block and the Mirakle Wellness Clinic in the premises and went around the Wellness Centre and interacted with Doctors about the facilities and treatment given to patients. The Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Tamil Nadu, Shri S.P. Velumani, the Chairman, NIA, Dr. M. Manickam, the Secretary, NIA, Dr. C. Ramaswamy, more than 4000 Students, Faculty Members and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
