HYDERABAD, Mar 28: In spite of the remarkable
progress achieved in various fields from space to agriculture,
the country has many challenges, Vice-President M Venkaiah
Naidu Thursday said there was a need for the government and
civil society to come together for addressing the challenges.
The Vice-President said this while delivering a
memorial lecture organised by Badrivishal Pannalal Pitti Trust
here.
He said every citizen must become an agent of change
and contribute to the building of a more empathetic, caring
and harmonious society.
“Ours is a rich, ancient civilisation and from time
immemorial we believed in the philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam,’ he said.
“At one time, India was called ‘Vishwaguru’ and we
contributed upto 27 per cent of the world GDP. Following waves
of foreign invasions and colonisation, we lost our pre-eminent
position,” he said.
“Today, India is on the rise again. World over, the
country is respected for its economic growth, democratic
values and for practising Gandhian principle of non-violence,”
he said.
About 20 per cent of Indian population still lives in
poverty and an equal percentage continues to be illiterate,
Naidu said.
The growing urban-rural divide with lack of adequate
education and health facilities in villages, gender
discrimination, caste barriers, communalism, religious
extremism, regionalism and atrocities on women were some of
the challenges that need to be collectively addressed by every
citizen, a press release quoted the vice-president as saying.
He further said Badrivishal Pannalal Pitti was a great
philanthropist, educationist, socialist and a great
connoisseur of art, music and literature, who had also played
an important role in the founding of the Socialist Party in
1955.
Badrivishal exemplified the role of a socially
conscientious citizen, who had practised to the hilt India’s age-old philosophy of Share and Care’, he said.
There was a need to draw inspiration from such people
and bring about a change in the attitude of people in the
increasingly materialistic world, he said.
Naidu called upon NGOs like Badrivishal Pitti Trust to make every effort in eradicating social evils and building a new and prosperous India, which shall be free of narrow prejudices, corruption, illiteracy and poverty. (PTI)
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