Youth are actors, directors of Viksit Bharat: Navy Chief

Underlining the role of youth in nation-building and ‘Viksit Bharat,’ Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi on Monday used the metaphor of cinema to underscore their role, saying they would be its “actors, producers, directors, and many times its audience too” in this journey.

In his address to a gathering of National Cadet Corps (NCC) at the ongoing Republic Day Camp here, he cited tennis great Roger Federer to emphasise the importance of hard work and perseverance, and recalled the valour and sacrifice made by Second Lieutenant Arun Khetrapal in the 1971 war to drive home the value of moral courage.

The Navy chief urged the youths to imbibe the values of self-discipline and teamwork, and asserted that “individual brilliance” alone cannot make an organisation or a nation grow.

“If you can harness this team spirit and youthful energy with unity and purpose, it will become a driving force in our nation’s quest to become a Viksit Bharat by 2047,” the admiral said.

He underlined that youth make up nearly 65 per cent of the country’s population and therefore they must step in towards reaching the goal of making a developed nation by 2047, by which time, most of them will be in their late 30s or early 40s.

“So, if I see this making of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ akin to (the making) of a film, then you will be its actors, actresses, producers, directors, and many times its audience too in this journey,” the Navy chief said. Youth make up 65 per cent of the Indian population, he said.

“I am not putting pressure on you to deliver, but you will have to work as you form the majority of the population,” he said. And you will have to rise above personal gains, he said, adding that the mindset of “what is in it for me?” should go out of one’s lexicon. If the organisation you are working for or the nation rises, it will bring name for you too, the Navy chief said.