lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachchh Bharat Mission initiative, President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday asserted that everyone must make the mission successful.
Talking at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, the President, however, remarked that the initiative also must be seen as just the beginning of a much larger and intense effort to cleanse minds and fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s vision in all its aspects.
Mukherjee who inaugurated an archive and research centre at Sabarmati Ashram which houses the world’s largest collection of letters and work of an individual under one roof maintained that the real dirt of India lies not in our streets, but in our minds and in our unwillingness to let go of views that divide society into them and us as well as pure and impure.
“Mahatma Gandhi saw India as a nation which would celebrate and constantly strengthen its vibrant diversity and commitment to pluralism. He wanted our people to move forward with unity and he didn’t want us to make celebration of his life and message as just a ritual,” he said, adding that Gandhiji envisaged India as an inclusive nation with equality and equal opportunity for every section of population.
later on the day addressing the 62nd convocation ceremony at Mahatma Gandhi founded academia – Gujarat Vidyapith – he stressed on the need to follow the Gandhian principles in education, which teaches non-violence and harmony.
“Whole his life Mahatma struggled for communal harmony. Educating in peace and harmony is the key to contain and reorient the disruptive forces in society,” he said, adding that Mahatma made the beginning from Gujarat and Vidyapith.
Taking note of ashram shalas and buniyadi schools functioning in the remote areas of the State, President Mukherjee said that Gujarat is perhaps the only State where Nai Talim exists in an institutional form. He further said that Nai Talim infers charitra nirman or character building, whose relevance is increasing by the day.
Mahatma Gandhi propounded the principle of Nai Talim for social reconstruction which states knowledge and work are not separate, he said, adding, “the constituents of Nai Talim are the 3-H: heart, hand and head. To put this philosophy into practice, Gandhiji promoted an academic curriculum of ‘basic education for all’.”
In presence of the President, the Chancellor of the Gandhian institute Ela Bhatt conferred the degrees to as many as 24 doctorates, 49 Masters in Philosophy, 405 post graduates, 369 graduates and 59 post-graduate diplomas.