"Inspired by ‘India Vision 2020’, the youth are now thinking in terms of what they can do for the nation. I have met 12 million youth in a decade and I can say there is a marked change in their thinking process", former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said here on Monday.
At an interface with students of PSG Institutions at PSG College of Arts and Science, he said youth were now ready to contribute to the development of the country. This confidence of the 600 million youth of India was the greatest asset that no other country had.
Elaborating the features that would earn India the stature of a developed country in 2020, Mr. Kalam said it should ensure that there was no rural-urban divide, there was access for all to energy and water, all service sectors worked in harmony, education was not denied to any eligible candidate, people received best of health care, governance was transparent and corruption-free, and crime against women and children ceased to exist.
"There are some areas of challenge that youth can focus to make India a developed nation. They are, agriculture and food processing, education and healthcare, communications, infrastructure, and electricity," he said.
He urged students to take up Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) projects for residents of villages nearby that would set them on a course of societal transmission.
Answering a question on which of his achievements made him most happy, the former President said it was the decision to use carbon-carbon material for making light-weight callipers for polio-affected children.
"There are so many of my achievements in the area of atomic physics that gave me happiness. But the moment of ultimate happiness came when I saw children who could barely walk with the help of a four-kg callipers, run with a 400 gm light weight one", Mr. Kalam said.
L. Gopalakrishnan, Managing Trustee of PSG & Sons’ Charities, N.C. Nandagopalan, Secretary of the college, and R. Rajendran, felicitated.
Keywords: Abdul Kalam, PSG college lecture, interaction, youth power
Children of India should be motivated to work on small issues in their neighbourhood. Dr. Kalam is a great inspiration for children to emulate values like-secular thoughts, hardwork, and working at being the change you want to see!
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam can be called a pioneer for bringing about a positive change in the thought process of the youth of the nation. His lectures should be made a part of the curriculum so that we can have more kalams in the coming future.
Panicker, your idea is good. School should find their own budget.
Govt is ruled by uneducated selfish minded people. Ofcourse if they find a way to sell the
good speeches to convert into votes they will.
Mr.APJ Abdul Kalam is icon for Indian youth and God gift for India.
The speeches made by Dr. APJ must be video graphed and cast in schools and colleges. It must be made available in the libraries. Teachers should find time to show it to the children. There should be a special allocation of budget to buy supporting electronic gadgets to facilitate this, if not already available. Let the new generation imbibe those golden words. The change will be amassing.
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