Text of the Vice-President’s address at 125th Founder’s Day of Hindu College (excerpts)

This institution has been witness to the freedom struggle and has contributed to it. This institution has witnessed the securing of independence; this institution has played a role in nurturing Independence by its alumni but now is the time to blossom Independence. You are there. Therefore, this Institute is the right platform for me to be here and on this day. What an occasion for me, what an honour for me that I am here in absolute delight associated with 125th Foundation Day of Hindu College. It has a rich Legacy of serving the nation and blossoming nationalism.

It is because of you that I can assert today with pride on our historical path, our civilizational ethos of more than 5000 year old. I can reflect on it.

With satisfaction I can enjoy, relish Amrit Kaal, our rise incremental, phenomenal, unstoppable but more significantly which is important to Bharat: the world would have optimism, hope and full confidence in future of Viksit Bharat because of you; you will contribute to the growth of viksit Bharat.

Boys and girls, it is after a long gap…Why do I say so? I was elected to parliament in 1989 and had the occasion to be the Minister also. After a long gap what we have seen is we are in an era of hope and possibility. We have seen it, both, hope and possibility. You, boys and girls, are the most significant stakeholders in governance. Hindu College throughout the freedom movement stood as a steadfast bastion where echoes of nationalist ardour reverberated. Now the tempo is different. We have the echo of viksit Bharat from here.

There is now a wholesome ecosystem available for you, the youth of the country. You are now able to exploit your talent and potential, realise your dreams and aspirations. The system is helping you by affirmative policies and a series of initiatives.

Far too long for a nation with that civilizational depth, the system remained plagued with corruption and patronage.

Corruption and patronage are the worst killers of young minds, corruption and patronage are antithetical to merit and stability. Young people hate it because they feel cheated by corruption, they feel cheated by nepotism, favouritism. Now boys and girls there is a big change, a sea change, a change for the better.

There is now accountable and transparent governance in place. Let me focus on some of the game changer initiatives that you are witnessing.

Equality before law is a constitutional ordainment that has eluded us for long.

Some people thought we are above law, we are not accountable to law, we have immunity from the rigours of law. That no one can touch us. We have freedom to do what we like. We can trample on the rights of others and can secure offices by that mechanism.

Equality before law is most inalienable quintessential to democratic governance. We have to coincide with that. We have to live with it even after independence. Thanks to visionary leadership, there is a big change now. No one is above the law these days, you know it before I do. A long arm of law is reaching to everyone particularly to those who never thought they will be held accountable to law.

It is prime obligation of all particularly to those in position of power and authority: they have to exemplify by conduct respect to law.

So disturbing it is that you preach one thing and practice another: how can it be countenanced? Those who are in authority must learn the lesson, they cannot take to dilated tactics or demonstrations. I reassert, nothing can be more despicable in public life than to preach one way and act just another way. I call up on you, I beseech you, I urge you to do all you can to rebuff such sinister tendencies.

Respect for law is respect for nationalism, respect for law is respect for democracy, respect for law is respect for meritocracy, respect for law is curbing corruption!

Unprecedented and unimaginable economic rise! Just imagine how much we have traversed in just 10 years. A decade ago our country was taken to be a part of fragile 5, a burden on the global economy. We traversed from very different terrain and now we are among the big five global economies of the world. We are ahead of Canada, the UK and France. Boys and girls in just two, three years if not less we will be the third largest global economy in the world ahead of Japan and Germany.

Look at our national image now from a global perspective. India’s Prime Minister’s voice is heard, he speaks for the world that these are days not of war but of dialogue, diplomacy. He says to the world, we cannot believe in expansionism, these are integral parts of our Civilizational ethos.  Rulers of this country over centuries, thousands of years have never gone beyond our frontiers. Our voice is heard in the global comity of nations and we are championing the cause of nations who never thought they would get justice at the International platform.

The African Union was made a permanent member of G20. The European Union was already there. Bharat took a lead. India has become a voice of global South. A great accomplishment!

Youth of today, youth of Amrit Kaal are Marathon runners of Bharat@2047. This march to Viksit Bharat must be your passion, mission and goal and I have no doubt you will achieve it.

The opportunities for you are enormous and many vistas are available. Our resilient financial ecosystem bolstered by an inclusive digital payment system is now a global model adopted by countries across the world. Just imagine what kind of pride we have. The mechanism of our product is being adopted by developed Nations. UPI transactions alone accounted for more than 1.5 trillion US dollars annually, constituting 50% of global digital transactions. Boys and girls our per capita mobile data consumption surpassed the combined figures of China and the United States.

We are living in times of disruptive technologies. These technologies have entered our houses, offices, society. We will have to see that we catalyse them in a reformed, regulated manner to be useful to society and humanity.

We are at a cusp of technological revolution, a revolution which is being compared by some and rightly so to the original Industrial Revolution and the speed of this Revolution is very fast. We have advancement in artificial intelligence, Quantum computing, 6G and internet of things, machine learning and many more and the best part is that our Bharat is amongst very few nations that have taken the lead in addressing, channelizing and taking benefit of these disruptive technologies. This will define our industries, our security and our way of life.

As empowered young minds, you are engines of growth, architects of sustainability, and guardians of a thriving future.

You may encounter setbacks and trust me you will encounter setbacks. There will be setbacks in your effort but that is proof not of your failure but that you are trying, that you aspire to be successful. I appeal to teachers, guardians and parents that they must appreciate that a setback is a testament to consistency, relentlessness, and fearlessness!

Boys and girls, have my insurance and assurances, both, never fear failure, fear cannot impede your growth. Fear is natural to one’s life journey. There are bound to be failures. Why fear what is natural, why fear which is obvious? why fear something which will lead you to success? Therefore never be run down by failures.

Some people at the cost of nationalism are a recipe for chaos; they are the perfect recipe for chaos. They shut down their eyes to phenomenal growth, unstoppable growth, rise of infrastructure, rise of a reputation, rise of our passport. They ignore everything and they engage in the pernicious design of running down the country. They do it by the way of orchestration, they do it in a designed manner, they disseminate information which is frustrating because it is wrong. Now when such people set afloat anti-national narratives untenable with a design to taint, tarnish and demean our institutions and Constitution, run down our growth history…who are the people who can deal with them? Only you can deal with them, boys and girls.

You are the most effective transformational conveyance of change, you are the discerning minds. Ours is the country where event management people get their iconic status. He is a great lawyer, these are great doctors, and they are great economists. Don’t be swept by these but analyse why and the moment you ask the question why, you will know the answer, it is not right.

We have seen in Padma Awards there was a time when these prestigious civilian awards emanated from recommendation and patronage. Now they go to the deserving. Therefore I am making this appeal to neutralize anti-national narratives to the most powerful segment of our youth because you are the ultimate stakeholders in governance, you are the custodians of this country, you will take Bharat in 2047, Bharat of your dreams and aspirations. And therefore do not spare such elements. They need to be disciplined. We are in pain when we look at it, we need to educate them, they are one of us, we need to sensitize them. We need to tell them we will not stand this and that will be the end of their narrative.