Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that India has emerged as an attractive destination for global investors and asked educational institutions to maintain high standards and foster academic excellence. He was addressing the Convocation of Great Lakes Institute of Management, in Chennai.
Observing that India was poised to become a US $ 5 trillion economy in the next few years, Naidu said there was a need to remove economic imbalances, urban-rural divide, end gender and social discrimination and enhance the prestige of all the institutions, including the Supreme Court, CAG, CVC, EC, Parliament and State Legislatures. He said that nobody should say or do anything to undermine the sanctity of these institutions. There are appropriate forums to redress grievances if any, he added.
The Vice President said that India is the largest Parliamentary democracy in the world and has a track record of the effective electoral system and conducting elections on a regular basis. Describing elections as ‘Festival of Democracy”, he complimented the Election Commission for conducting the stupendous exercise in a peaceful and orderly manner.
Asking the graduating students to respect their alma mater and always act to enhance its reputation, Naidu advised them to focus on achieving academic excellence and become socially conscientious citizens. He said that the atmosphere on university campuses should not be vitiated by extraneous issues and added that he was happy that barring a few, most of the 900 Universities were free from any disturbance.
The Vice President also told them not to neglect their parents, mother tongue, native place, motherland and Guru (teacher). He further said that they should also strive to promote and protect the safety and security of the motherland. “Taking care of fellow human beings is nationalism and not merely saying Vande Mataram or Jai Hind”, he added. He also emphasized
