New Delhi,5 Apr :The President of India, Smt. Prtibha Devisingh Patil has said that we now need a Second Green Revolution that will enhance our agricultural productivity and make India an agrarian superpower. She urged all policy makers, scientists and farmers to work towards this objective. She was delivering the Valedictory Centenary Lecture in Memory of Babu Jagjivan Ram Here today. She further said that education schemes for the weaker and
disadvantaged sections of society, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are implemented and properly monitored. In addition, children coming from these backgrounds should be provided with facilities that would help in bringing them at par with the rest of society. She said that providing access to primary education to all is our firm commitment and obligation. We have to make special efforts for children coming from under-privileged backgrounds. There are many young bright boys and girls who have various hidden skills, talents and a passion to do things that can be of help to society.
The President further also said that the Babu Jagivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojna has been launched this year for the construction of hostels. This scheme is a fitting tribute to Babuji who throughout his life championed the cause of education. She said that social justice must accompany our quest for growth. We have a constitutional and a moral duty to bring the weaker and the marginalized sections into the growth trajectory. A growth process that bridges the divide between the haves and have-nots, between rural and urban areas, between regions and communities and between genders is the inclusive agenda that we should pursue, she added.
In his remarks, the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh stated that Babu Jagjivan Ram’s life and work continue to inspire us even today. He was a true nationalist, a true secular minded person, a great administrator and, above all, a great son of Mother India. The birth centenary celebrations constituted an important effort to rediscover and reinterpret his ideas and contributions to the process of nation building. Babu Jagjivan Ram was one such revered leader whose legacy of service to the nation and commitment to the welfare of the downtrodden will inspire generations to come.
Smt. Meira Kumar, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment and Shri K. M. Acharya, Secretary of the Ministry were also present on the occasion. Smt. Meira Kumar informed that “Babuji in Lok Sabha – a commemorative volume” has been published by the Lok Sabha. She said that this was the first function organized by the Ministry of SJ&E and Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation to commemorate the valedictory of birth centenary of Babu Jagjivan Ram.