President Droupadi Murmu Saturday said a healthy society can be built through generosity and cooperation and asked students to hold handhold the deprived to help them progress in life.
Students should not to think only of their own happiness and interests but also about the welfare of the society and country, she said.
"Cooperation is a beautiful side of life that students should practice," Murmu said addressing the 12th convocation of Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University here.
"A feeling of competition is natural among people ... It is an inevitable part of life ... When you (students) move forward in life and look back, you may feel that some people of the society could not keep up with you,” the president said and advised the students to hold the hands of the deprived people to help them progress.
She said that students should always keep trying to succeed in each competition and for that, they should keep acquiring better skills and move towards greater efficiency. "They can turn the impossible into possible with their will power," she said.
Murmu was addressing the convocation on the third and last day of her visit to Mayurbhanj in Odisha, her home district. Before addressing the students, Murmu met delegations from three particularly vulnerable tribal groups at the varsity campus.
She said that education is a continuous process in life and merely earning degrees does not mean that it has been completed. After graduating some would be employed and some would be in business, while others might be involved in research. "But thinking of providing a job is better than thinking of doing a job", the president said.
She expressed satisfaction over the university setting up an incubation center and providing assistance to its students, alumni and common people for setting up start-ups.
The president also appreciated the institution for setting up the ‘Sacred Grove’ in its campus with the aim to preserve tribal practices and cultural traditions. “The Sacred Grove is important for the conservation of environment and local biodiversity. It is also one of the best examples of community-based management of natural resources”.
The world is facing huge challenges of global warming and climate change and India has set an example in adopting the nature-friendly 'Lifestyle for the Environment', she said.
“In our tradition it is believed that trees, plants, mountains, rivers have life. Not only humans but all living beings are children of nature. Therefore, it is the duty of all human beings to live in harmony with nature,” she said.
Murmu said the Similipal National Park in Odisha holds a globally important place for biodiversity and hoped that the students and teachers of the university will find a way to protect it through their research and innovation.
The president had visited the national park on Friday. This was the first visit by any president to the national park in its over four decades of being.
The president wound up her three-day visit to her home district Mayurbhanj after the convocation and left for Kalaikunda air base in West Bengal, from where she flew back to Delhi.
-With PTI Input
