NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that through the new National Education Policy (NEP), a forward-looking and futuristic education system was being created in India for the first time.
Noting that the number of premier educational institutions such as IITs, IIITs, IIMs, and AIIMS was increasing significantly, Modi said that the number of medical colleges in the country has increased by more than 65 per cent since 2014 when the BJP government came to power.
Modi was virtually addressing the 75th “Amrut Mahotsav” of Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul at Rajkot. The Prime Minister accused the past governments of not doing anything to regain the country’s lost glory due to their “slave mentality”.
Hailing the ancient “gurukul” (residential schooling) system of education, the Prime Minister said that knowledge had been the highest purpose of life in the country and that saints and spiritual leaders helped revive the country’s lost glory in the field of education.
“You know very well that for India’s bright future, our existing education policy and institutes have a big role to play. Therefore, in this ‘amrit kaal’ of independence, whether it is about country’s educational infrastructure or policy, we are engaged in work at every level at a fast pace,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister noted that when the country became independent, “it was our responsibility to revive India’s ancient glory and our great pride in the field of education.” But, he said, “under the pressure of a slave mentality, the governments did not move in that direction. And in some matters, they went in the reverse direction. In these circumstances, once again, our saints and acharyas took up the task of fulfilling this duty towards the country. Swaminarayan Gurukul is a living example of this opportunity.”
Modi said that India showed the world the way by carrying out research in fields ranging from “atma tattva” to “paramatma tattva”, from spirituality to ayurveda, from social science to solar science, from math to metallurgy, and from zero to infinity.
“Women scholars debated with their male counterparts at a time when the term ‘gender equality’ was not even born.”
The PM further noted that India showed light to humanity in those dark times, offering rays from which the journey of the modern world and modern science started.
He mentioned that the gurukuls of those periods paved the way for the world by allowing women scholars like Gargi and Maitreyi to be involved in debates there.
“Knowledge has been the highest purpose of life in India. Therefore, in the period when other countries were identified with kingdoms and royal clans, India was known by its gurukuls,” the Prime Minister said.
Modi pointed out that the country’s gurukuls have been like a garden of equality, affection and service for centuries. He said universities like Nalanda and Takshashila used to be synonymous with the global glory of this gurukul tradition of India.
“Discovery and research, they were part of India’s way of life. Today, the diversity and cultural prosperity we see in the country are results of the same discoveries and innovations,” he said.
The Prime Minister emphasised that the ideal citizens and youths raised on a better education system will work to realise the dream of a developed India in 2047, when India celebrates a century of independence, and the efforts of institutions like Shri Swaminarayan Gurukul will certainly be vital.
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