Vice-President address at the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Seth Anandram Jaipuria School, Kanpur (Excerpts)

Boys and girls and audience, we have entered the fourth quarter of the century of adoption of the Indian Constitution and therefore, we must resolve that every second in the temple of democracy is utilized for welfare of the people at large. Temple of democracy is meant for worship, for the cause of public welfare, and it should not suffer sacrilege. 

I am sure all steps will be taken by concerned, particularly elected representatives who are under the watchdog of the electorate to ensure we exemplify our conduct by decorum discipline and not by disturbance and disruption. 

Five decades is not a small period, it is half a century. When it was started, the concept of service was very different. The concept was to give back to the society, the concept was when we start an educational institution, our motivation is sublime. Our commitment is to serve the public cause, commerce or fiscal gain was last of the ideas in the mind. Over the period we have seen, many educational institutions have come and they are getting multiplied geometrically but what is concerning is the commitment to education has taken a back seat and commerce dominates.

Every time I interact with the honorable governor, one common feature we get is, are we really focusing on the essence of right to education?

Right to education means for those who otherwise cannot have access to quality education. Therefore, there came into being a provision that we must have a special categorization for students belonging to economic weaker sections of society. I have no doubt this institute must be doing so. 

We must nurture talent from rural areas, we must nurture talent from that segment of the society which otherwise cannot afford quality education and have it from me, the moment there is inclusion of this category in the school, the overall ecosystem of the school becomes very soothing.

I appeal to the corporates, I appeal to business houses, they must make it a priority sector. Let them open good schools, let the motivation behind good school openings should be to give something back to the society and those are the corporates that have at their disposal CSR funds, commitment of CSR funds for good educational institutions. With the objective to make available education affordable, quality education to one and all particularly weaker sections. We are investing in our present, we are assuring ourselves of our future and overall, this will go to make India a great nation in the world.

आप लोगों को आज संकल्प लेना पड़ेगा, Boys and Girls कि हम समाज में हमारी उम्र के हिसाब से ऐसा व्यवहार करें जो भारतीय संस्कृति की झलक को दर्शाता हो। ज्ञान की जिज्ञासा आप में होनी चाहिए, माता-पिता के प्रति समर्पण का भाव, अध्यापकों के प्रति आदर, अनुशासन के प्रति लगन।

The plastic cover, the mobile is consuming our time. Young boys and girls are getting away from play fields, they are getting away from actual laboratories, they are heavily preoccupied by this plastic.

Screen might appear to you, get over it. This time in your life will never come back again. This time will not come back again in the life of anyone else. Howsoever this society may progress, we cannot create the lost time and therefore please make most of it.

I'll quote what Swami said, Swamiji reflected, “If the poor cannot come to education, education must reach them, at the plough, in the factory, elsewhere.”

Remember you are not only students of this Institute, you are torchbearers of a proud civilisation. आपके घर में आपको सांस्कृतिक विचार मिलते हैं। आपको चारों तरफ नज़र आता है कि भारत जैसा देश दुनिया में कोई दूसरा नहीं है।