BENGALURU, Dec 30: President Pranab Mukherjee today said cooperative spirit within the country will help it to become self-sufficient, self-dependent and self-reliant in all the fields.
He said the developmental objectives of the nation can be achieved with the efforts of both Government and people’s organisations supplementing each other.
“Bengaluru is emerging as an education hub and the health hub of the rest of India. Thanks to the educationists, philanthropists and medical practitioners and scientists for making their city a centre of both education and health,” Mukherjee said.
“I have no doubt the way in which the people are developing the spirit of cooperation, the cooperative spirit will truly translate to convert our country to be self-sufficient, self-dependent and self-reliant in all the fields,” he added.
The President was speaking after inaugurating ‘Adamya Chetana Seva Utsava 2017’ and Sri Shankara National Centre for Cancer Prevention and Research here, that was attended by Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah among others. Adamya Chetana is a charitable organisation started by Union Minister Ananth Kumar in 1997 in the memory of his late mother Girija Narayana Shastry, of which he is the chief patron. The organisation works in the field of education with food, education and health as its core intervention.
Lauding Ananth and his wife, Tejaswini for their service to society through Adamya Chetana, the President said “We cannot expect Government to do everything”.
“There are many problems which we cannot solve on our own… Yes Government can do much more than any individual or institutions, but Government cannot do everything,” he said.
Recalling a summit of the heads of governments held in 1995 in Denmark, in which he participated as Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, he said the summit had recognised that it is the responsibility of people at large to remove social inequality, and highlighted the importance of feeding the hungry children.
He said “Ten commitments were adopted at the summit, out of which one important commitment was to feed the hungry children, because when you feed a child you feed a generation, you feed your future”.
Noting that it is students who are going to be our future and generation next, the President said if they become healthy, educated and energetic, they will be an asset to society and family. (PTI)
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