Ranchi:
President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday called upon students to use modern technology and become job creators.
Addressing the 33rd convocation of the Ranchi University here, Kovind said, nowadays youth have access to modern technology that leads to many new opportunities.
“Our previous generations did not have those facilities,” he said.
Mentioning that the Centre and the state governments are giving fillip to employment (opportunities), Kovind urged the students to fully utilise the opportunities.
“Jharkhand has several tourist places and quality educational institutions. The state has many specialities and on the basis of the talent of people like you (students), new dimensions can be set for development,” he said.
Jharkhand possesses not only 40 per cent of the country’s minerals but also has substantial human resources, Kovind said.
“I can say to Chief Minister Raghubar Das that your state is full of natural resources. It also has one of the largest human resource repositories,” Kovind said, congratulating about 3,000 students who were awarded degrees at the convocation.
He appreciated the university for starting ‘Jan Jati and Khetriya Bhasa Vibhag’ (Tribal and regional languages department), for teaching five tribal languages—Kuduk, Ho, Mundari, Santhali and Khadia.
The President also recalled the role of Birsa Munda who spearheaded an uprising against the British in the Chota Nagpur region in the early 19th century.
“Birsa Munda, whom we refer to as ‘Bhagwaan’, was one of the greatest freedom fighters from this region, and a source of inspiration not only for Jharkhand but for the entire nation,” he said.
He also recalled the contributions of other tribal icons like Sidho-Kanho, Jatra Tana Bhagat and Chand-Bhairov, and appreciated the role of Tana Bhagats, who followed the path of Mahatma Gandhis non-violence during the freedom movement.
The President said that one should learn from tribals how to live in harmony with nature.
Presenting gold medals to 11 of the 56 gold medalists, Kovind said in a lighter vein, “I told a girl that I envy her for getting gold medal for LLM (Masters in Law) while I am only LLB.”
He also praised the academic performance of the girls as it was five times better than boys with 47 of the 56 gold medallists being girls.
Praising the developmental and social welfare programmes of the central and the state governments, the President said that it was from Jharkhand that the worlds biggest health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat, was launched.
Pension schemes for farmers and traders were also launched from here, he said.
The President called upon the students to learn from the life of Mahatma Gandhi and do social service on the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation.
The President said that institutions like Vikas Bharati in Gumla are active in the region for all-round tribal development.
“I was to visit Gumla yesterday but due to bad weather I could not go,” Kovind said.
He urged students to take inspiration from institutions like Ramakrishna Mission which works for the development of the health and education sectors.
