New Delhi: Stressing the need to become good human beings, President Droupadi Murmu urged students to dream big in order to build a new India and a new world.
Addressing the 99th annual convocation of the Delhi University, Murmu said the main aim of education is to develop better human beings. She said it is very important to search for well-being in life through good thinking. "Discovering life on Mars is a good thing, but searching for well-being in life with good thinking is even more important", she said and urged students to "dream big" in order to "build a new India and a new world".
She also asked students to follow Mahatma Gandhi's advice of availing excellent knowledge from across the globe while being connected to the Indian soil. "We should respect all languages and cultures but, always stay connected to our roots", she said.
Murmu advised students to carry forward the good things of our previous generations and discard their mistakes. "Pollution, climate change and lifestyle diseases have taken an alarming form due to the consumeristic development model", she added.
Urging teachers and students to encourage first-generation learners, Murmu reminisced that she was the first girl from her village to go to town to study and many of her classmates too were the first in their families to get enrolled at the university. She said that such students are very talented and hardworking and have come to the university with great enthusiasm to fulfil their dreams. "But in most of the case they become victim of inferiority complex. This should not happen in any sensitive society," she said.
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She also stressed the need to address basic issues including clean toilets for girl students, world-class laboratories, quality education and needs of persons with disabilities.
Speaking on the occasion, Murmu asked Delhi University to lead other universities of the country on parameters of excellence and earn its name among the world's prestigious institutes of higher learning. "Delhi University reflects India in all its richness and diversity" and there is a part of this university in every area of excellence in India and abroad, she said.
She said it was a matter of pride that out of six students who received medals from her, three were physically challenged. This is the result of their indomitable courage and enthusiasm, she said. Again, in Delhi University's 2022-23 session, 52 per cent of the students who got admission in the undergraduate courses are girls and that too is something to boast about, she added.
