Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Sunday, said that the poison of caste was the cause of the country’s slavery.

“Some people still want to divide society in the name of caste. They are making an evil attempt to spread the poison of caste in society for their political selfishness. We need to be cautious of such people. No one will benefit from this poison,” Yogi remarked.

Unveiling the statue of former block chief of Bansgaon, Babu Chaturbhuj Singh, at Jawaharlal Nehru Postgraduate College, the chief minister said that in any field of life, whoever was engaged in work should adhere to civic duties with a sense of national priority. This is the only way the vision of a self-reliant India can be realised, he added.

“Our educational institutions should not become mere platforms for distributing degrees but should emerge as mediums for the holistic development of students,” he noted.

Chief Minister Yogi mentioned that Babu Chaturbhuj Singh had a tendency to struggle with adverse circumstances and was a senior social worker, standing by every individual in times of joy and sorrow.

“Engaging in activities in both favourable and unfavourable situations, he remained dedicated to advancing issues connected with public welfare with intensity. During a period when government encouragement was low, the establishment of a degree college in the Bansgaon area was a dream,” Yogi added.

Chief Minister Yogi said that at that time, under the guidance of Justice KD Shahi, Babu Chaturbhuj Singh took upon himself the responsibility for establishing this college and in no time, a degree college was built here. He mentioned that students coming out of educational institutions should not have doubts about their future; they should have clear goals from the beginning and the responsibility for this lies with educational institutions and teachers.

He emphasised that every path leads to its destination, and to reach the destination, the educational institutions must become a means of guidance. For this, students also need to work hard.

The chief minister advised students to not to adopt shortcuts to reach their goals in life. “The shortcut route will become the cause of weakness. It won’t provide stability in life,” he pointed out.

“Development can bring change to people’s lives. Whenever development happens, there are immediate challenges. For example, when a road is constructed, encroachments are removed. This may cause inconvenience to some people for a short period, but in the long run, every section of society benefits from it,” the chief minister said.

In the programme, Chief Minister Yogi also released the souvenir of Jawaharlal Nehru Postgraduate College. Additionally, the female students who got gold medals by scoring the highest marks in the examination were also honoured.

Former Vice-Chancellor Prof Harikesh Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party regional president Sahajanand Rai, MLAs Shriram Chauhan, Rajesh Tripathi, BJP district president Yudhishthir Singh, BJP Kisan Morcha state president Kameshwar Singh, former MLA Raghavendra Singh and others were present at the event.