Ahmedabad: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Thursday linked Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of rebuilding India with the Narendra Modi government’s stated goal of taking the country to the forefront of the world by 2047, telling young graduates that they would be the generation to witness the centenary of independence.
Addressing Gujarat Vidyapith’s 72nd convocation in Ahmedabad, Union Minister Shah said Gandhi had deliberately used the idea of “reconstruction” rather than “new construction” for the country.
The distinction, he said, was important because India did not need to abandon its foundational principles in the pursuit of modernity.
“The principles will remain the same as they have been for thousands of years. We will become modern and undertake reconstruction,” Union Minister Shah added.
He said that India did not need to create a new identity using methods brought from elsewhere, but needed to modernise while preserving its fundamental principles.
“Gandhi’s vision included Gram Swaraj, village prosperity and cooperation. The Narendra Modi government is also working on these three areas,” he added.
He described the period from 2014 to 2026 as one in which the country had moved on a path of reconstruction, with national strength, prosperity, security, self-reliance and morality in leadership as guiding principles.
He connected this approach with the Union government’s vision for 2047, when India will complete 100 years of independence.
Union Minister Shah told the graduating students that many of those sitting on the stage might not be present in 2047, but the young people sitting before him would be there.
“You are the fortunate people who will witness the centenary of the country’s independence,” he said, adding that India should be number one in the world in every field by then.
Union Minister Shah said this ambition should not mean focusing only on India’s own interests.
“We will be number one, but we will not think only of ourselves; we will think of the welfare of the entire universe. India would be powerful but should use its strength with wisdom, while its prosperity should benefit the country, its citizens and people suffering around the world,” he emphasised.
The Union Minister also connected the future vision with Gandhi’s approach to education.
He said the National Education Policy, 2020, was built around five pillars — mother tongue, skills, multidisciplinary education, the Indian knowledge tradition and holistic personality development.
He described these as closely aligned with the education principles developed at Gujarat Vidyapith.
Union Minister Shah said Gandhi had used experiments to translate his ideas into practice, citing the Non-Cooperation Movement, the Dandi March, the Quit India Movement and non-violence.
Gujarat Vidyapith, he added, had been established on October 18, 1920, as part of this wider effort to build an Indian system of education and strengthen the foundations of Swaraj.
He recalled that Gandhi was the institution’s founding Chancellor and said Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Morarji Desai and other prominent figures had subsequently served as Chancellors because they understood the need to preserve and advance the institution.
Union Minister Shah also praised the continuation of that “Acharya tradition” under current Chancellor Acharya Devvrat and said the Vidyapith had made efforts to follow the path shown by Gandhi.
(IANS)
