By Express News Service

TIRUCHY: Dissent and protests are part of democracy, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday while addressing students in the city. He, however, stressed that protests should be peaceful and the destruction of public properties should not be allowed. Naidu was speaking at National College as the chief guest of its centenary celebrations.

He emphasized that one should not allow violence to take place in any public activity and that peace was the pre-requisite for progress.

Further, Naidu advised students not to waste time during the course of their study and instead be pragmatic. There is nothing wrong in knowing different ideologies, but practice them once you are out of educational institutions.

He added, Your focus should be on academic excellence for better future. We must pursue education with all vigour. Students must draw inspiration from our glorious history to make a magnificent future.

The Vice-President appealed to students to dispel political tainting of initiatives like yoga promotions, Swachch Bharat, digital India and Clean India. He said the initiatives were for personal well being and nations development and should not be viewed politically.

Appreciating Tamil Nadu for its higher Gross Enrolment Ratio, (enrolment into higher education)he said more is needed to be done. He said private players should also invest in education. Investment in education is investing in countrys development, he said.

ALSO READ | Campuses shouldnt let politics of hate thrive: Venkaiah Naidu

He added, Literacy is the first step to empowerment. We must hence step-up the pace of our literacy campaigns, especially those that have an impact on adult literacy.

Referring to ancient India where education was free, egalitarian and accessible to both men and women, he said, "The curriculum was comprehensive and placed equal emphasis on the intellectual, emotional, psychological and physical development."

He called for restoring ancient glory where India was the educational capital of the world by fortifying modern education with ancient wisdom to face todays real-world challenges.

He said that the treasure of wisdom handed down to us by generations of wise men and womenneeded to bepreserved, protected and promoted.

Naidu also suggested students learn as many languages as possible.

Among those present at the event were Vice President of National College Jayakar Krishnamurthy, Secretary K Ragunathan and Principal R Sundararaman.

Continued here:
Nothing wrong with different ideologies, practise them after college: Venkaiah Naidu to Tiruchy students - The New Indian Express