Shri Narendra Modi attended the inauguration ceremony of Institute of Infrastructure, Research and Management (IITRAM), which is situated in his Assembly constituency of Maninagar. IITRAM was inaugurated by former Deputy PM of India and Lok Sabha MP from Gandhinagar Shri LK Advani ji. Shri Narendra Modi stressed on the need to create a strong and skilled manpower that will take India to newer heights and talked at length about the importance of human resource development in taking India ahead on the path of development. He said, “Need of the hour is to create skilled manpower that can help in Rashtra Nirman. And we will need so much manpower in the coming days. Human resource development is linked to the future of the nation. And we are blessed with tremendous youth power. Imagine how much they can contribute towards nation building.”
Narendra Modi ji recalled that earlier experiencing poverty and difficulty was considered to be a virtue but that has changed. “In this era when we are living in a global world it is important to make our place in the world and this cannot happen merely by reciting quotes. The world will see the strength you have, the state of your economy, how you are embracing technology and how you are working towards human resource development,” Modi ji affirmed.
He added, “Perhaps earlier strength was accepted due to military or economic power but today there are several other factors that determine the strength of a nation and one such factor is knowledge. It is very important to scale new heights of knowledge.” Modi ji spoke about the strides Gujarat has been making in education especially with the addition of facilities such as long distance learning through technology and the specialized universities that have given more opportunities to the students.
Shri Modi pointed that the world also sees how good a nation’s infrastructure is and added that a lot of private investment is coming into the infrastructure sector. He avowed that India was slow on the development of human resources and skilled manpower and there was neither vision nor foresight.
Modi ji categorically stated that development is one that touches every single person and that mere words are not enough to guarantee development. “Aspirations are rising and people are saying we want better services. It is for the government to fulfill these aspirations,” Shri Modi said. He went on to say that the way lies in empowerment of youth and opined.
During his speech Shri Modi came down heavily against the attitude of the Centre of suppressing the democratic voices, particularly in states that elect Governments of other parties. Giving the example of IITRAM itself Shri Modi said, “Infact, we are late in the setting up of IITRAM. We passed the bill but the Governor refused to sign it. It was passed for the second time as well. Still the bill remained pending for six months. They were determined not to let it pass till December 2012. Then we said pass it in March so that we can commence with admissions in June but that did not happen,” and added, “Those states that are particularly against the Centre are facing this problem. Who is bigger, the six crore people of Gujarat or select people holding office?”
Shri Modi extended his gratitude to Advani ji and said that he agreed with Advani ji that there will be change in 2014 and the BJP will for the Government.
Apart from Shri Advani ji and Shri Modi, Urban Development Minister Smt. Anandiben Patel, Education Minister Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Minister of State Smt. Vasuben Trivedi were present on the occasion. Mr. Sudhir Jain spoke and explained the idea behind IITRAM to the audience.
