NEW DELHI: Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar underlined the importance of women education, “We cannot dream of a Viksit Bharat without women and without education. Women and education are the two wheels of the chariot that will drive the nation”, he stated.

Interacting with the students and faculty members at the India International School in Jaipur, Dhankhar highlighted the importance of education especially women education and said “Education is the biggest leveller in society and it brings equality and it is a necessity for democracy to flourish in any society. Education brings about equality, education cuts into inequities. Education is a great leveller of the societal system, education provides oxygen to democracy”, he added.

“If we look into our Vedas, great emphasis was laid on education and participation of women. We lost our way somewhere in between. But during that period in Vedas, the Vedic era, the earliest one, women were on the same footing. They were policy makers, they were decision makers, they were guiding forces”, he further stressed.

In his address he also praised the recently enacted Women Reservation Bill that mandates one third reservation is Parliament and State Legislatures.  “An epochal development has taken place, a historic development has taken place, and that is women reservation in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures, Constitution has now provided one-third reservation in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures…..They will be part of policy-making, they will be part of legislation making, they will be part of executive functions, they will be the driving force. This is the development of the century”, he added.

Underlining India as the most happening place globally in terms of investment and opportunity, he stated, “the country has seen historic exponential development, economic upsurge unknown to us. The world class infrastructure, our opportunity basket is increasing day by day. But I can tell you one thing and global institutions, the IMF, the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and all have spoken that India globally is the most happening place. Look around any country, we are the best in terms of opportunity and investment”.

Lauding National education Policy (NEP) for its ability to impart quality and purposeful education, the Vice-President underscored, “There can be no change without education. Education has to be quality education. Education has to be purposeful education. Education has to be beyond degree. Pursuit of degrees one after another is not the right approach to education and that is why after three decades the country came to have a national education policy that allows students full exploitation of their talent. They have been distanced from degree-oriented education. It has been focused on skill education, aptitude. Simultaneously you can pursue courses.” He further appealed to those who have still not adopted the NEP to adopt it.

Stressing on the role of youth to achieve ‘Viksit Bharat’ in 2047,  Dhankhar said that elements needed to achieve a developed nation status are present in the country. “There is a mechanism in place where every individual can exploit his or her talent and potential to realise aspirations and dreams”, he added.

Drawing attention to the equal application of law in the country, Vice-President said, “Equality before law, the provided by the Constitution had eluded us for long, some people thought they are more equal than others, some thought we are beyond the reach of the law, we are above the law but a big change that has taken place is equality before law is now a ground reality. Privilege, pedigree, that special class that carried an idea they have immunity from law are now being rendered accountable to law. That's a big change!”

Highlighting the sanitisation of power corridors from corrupt elements in the country, Dhankhar said, “Any society driven by corruption, driven by greasing of the palm, driven by liaison agents, driven by a system that without corruption you cannot get a job or a contract is certainly against the rise of the youth. Corruption eats into the talented. Corruption neutralises meritocracy. A big change has taken place. Power corridors once infested with corrupt liaison elements. Those who extra-legally leveraged decision-making, who provided contracts and jobs without merit being a consideration. Those corridors have been neutralised. You would have seen now that there is transparent accountable governance in the country and this has been brought about by technological penetration right up to the villages where money is transferred without intermediary”.