Union Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday said that the New Education Policy (NEP) has been framed with the objective of making the country's youth "competent enough to stand tall in all spheres of life".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the NEP on the occasion of 75 years of Independence based on human values and education, along with scientific approach and artificial intelligence, the home minister said addressing the golden jubilee celebration of Ramakrishna Mission School at Narottam Nagar here in Tirap district.
The New Educational Policy of 2020 has incorporated in it all observations of Swami Vivekananda, a philosopher and disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa and founder of the Ramakrishna Mission 125 years ago, he said.
Quoting Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy on education, he said it is the medium for making people intelligent, to bring out the inner strength of the people and give it a direction.
“If education cannot prepare a person to tackle all challenges in life, then it is futile…. If education cannot mould the character of a human being, it is useless,” he said.
Terming 21st century as the "century of knowledge", Shah said that efforts are on to make the youth of the country competent enough to stand at par with those across the world.
“The aim of the NEP is to create youth who can compete with the youth from foreign countries," he added.
Lauding RKM, he said “Treating patients in its hospitals and imparting quality education, it has exhibited exemplary commitment for which the nation salutes it," he said.
He also extolled RKM's contribution in the education sector and socio-cultural lives of the people of Arunachal Pradesh.
The people of Arunachal Pradesh exhibit true sense of patriotism which can be seen when they greet people with the words ‘Jai Hind’ instead of the usual 'namaste’. "This uniqueness is not seen in other parts of the country. The credit goes to RamaKrishna Mission for instilling patriotism among the people of the state,” he said.
To construct a temple is a noble job but to establish a school and to impart knowledge to the people is more valuable. “Fifty years of exemplary service by RKM in the state is note worthy and I salute its monks for their dedicated service to mankind despite adversities,” the union minister said.
Arunachal Pradesh, he said, faced problems for decades and the challenges are minimizing gradually.
“But the state was never seen to be affected by the problems because since the last 50 years is RKM providing its service to the state. Places where RKM reached, it made significant contribution to preserve the local culture and heritage, dialects and religion,” he added.
“Arunachal Pradesh is today moving ahead proudly along with its rich culture and traditions, which is possible only because of unstinted support of RKM,” Shah said.
The state has maintained cordial relation with the Centre despite challenges and with NDA coming to power at the Centre in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had changed the perception of New Delhi towards the Northeast.
“In the eight years journey of the BJP-led NDA government, the prime minister has reduced the distance between New Delhi and the northeast and treated the region as an integral part of the country which was previously not seen”.
No former prime minister had frequently visited northeast in a short span of time as Modi who did so more than 50 times in the last eight years, he said.
“With good road, air and train connectivity besides infrastructure development, Modiji has connected Northeast with the rest of India,” Shah added.
Shah, who is on a two-day visit to the northeastern state, also unveiled an 18 ft statue of Swami Vivekananda in the school premises besides inaugurating its new hostel building and administrative block.
