VICE President Jagdeep Dhankhar called the youth of the country as ‘architects of Bharat’ and urged them to believe in the nation and have a non-compromise attitude towards corruption. Addressing students at Pondicherry Central University at an interactive session on ‘Viksit Bharat@2047’ on Sunday, the Vice President said, “you are architects of Bharat. This is not a mere statement. You are architects of Bharat because you are real stakeholders. You will have a non-compromise attitude towards corruption and you will have to believe in your nation because others are believing in the nation.” Pointing out that there was an ecosystem in place in the country now, where every young mind has opportunities to exploit his or her potential, unleash talent and energy, realise dreams and aspirations, Dhankhar said, “now autocracy and corruption have gone and meritocracy prevails. We have bid goodbye to favouritism, patronage, nepotism and corruption.”

 

The Vice President also underscored the need for transparency and accountability in governance, which is the theme now. “Now you know what you want. You want merit alone to be rewarded. When you got all this, it is legitimate for us to dream big keeping in view our civilization ethos of more than 5000 years.” He said, “we have demonstrated to the world what India is capable of, be it Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas conflict, or dealing with Middle East or European Union or America, India has its own voice, independent voice.”

 

Calling on students to make ‘Viksit Bharat’ in 2047’ their mission and passion, the Vice President said no one can be higher stakeholder in the Government than young minds. “You are more involved with governance than anyone else.” He said there was a time when some people thought they were above the law and that no one could reach them. “... All are equal before law and no one will be spared now if violated the law... It is equality before law that is the nectar of democracy and that is the essence of democracy. We cannot visualize democracy without there being equality before law and equal opportunities. Hailing the contribution of women in various fields, the V-P said, “women power was in full play at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 on Kartavya Path and the world was stunned. Women are not just pilots of commercial airlines. They are fighter pilots and they are being admitted to the Army and Defence. No one thought before.