Nation looks to youth as wealth creators, not job creators or seekers: Pradhan

Jammu, Jun 16 (PTI) Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said the nation looks at its youth as ‘wealth creators’ as the country has huge expectations from them.

He emphasised that today’s youth have a greater responsibility to play in the next 25 years so as to make India a global leader by 2047 through innovations, ideas and business models.

“The nation looks at the youth neither as job-creators nor as job-seekers but as wealth-creators as it has huge expectations from institutes like IIM Jammu and the students graduating today,” the minister said while addressing the students of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Jammu at their graduation ceremony.

He further said the students graduating today from IIM have a huge responsibility on their shoulders toward the nation and families and they must be ready to face every kind of challenge without slipping into their comfort zone.

“The expansion into fields beyond academics and research marks the way for holistic development with ‘Centres of Excellence’ providing an impetus to skill development and entrepreneurship in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

“Our higher education institutes must play a key role in nurturing local aspirations, harnessing the full potential of the region, finding sustainable solutions to 21st-century challenges, and furthering the socio-economic progress of Jammu and Kashmir,” Pradhan further said.

During his address, he mentioned that the world is facing the five biggest challenges today the demographic dividend, inequality, technological challenges, climate concern and the coronavirus pandemic.

He exhorted that the youth today must find universal solutions to these challenges to make this world a better place to live in.

The minister stressed that institutes have a major role to play in this transformation as they will be providing a platform for knowledge transfer, experience-sharing, research, and innovation, thereby, contributing to the nation-building exercise.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said Jammu and Kashmir being the birthplace of the ‘Aroma Mission’, also referred to as the lavender cultivation in India, is a torch bearer in the agri-tech start-up movement in the country.

More value will be added to the mission by the entrepreneurs and agri-technocrats, he added.

He said India is leading the start-up ecosystem in the world and with more than one lakh start-ups and more than 100 unicorns today, what is desperately required is a change of government job mindset.

He stressed that parents can play a pivotal role in it.

Lt Governor Manoj Sinha said, “India is emerging as a new knowledge economy on the world horizon and it is growing at an exponential pace. Transformational work in every sector driving the nation on the path to become a powerhouse.”

“The graduating students are making a new beginning of their life at a juncture when this glorious phase of our country’s development and growth have opened up new opportunities, new possibilities for all,” he added.

“Building a dream in someone’s heart is bigger than building any physical structure in this world. It is the best time for young minds to turn their ideas into reality and create a better future deeply rooted in our glorious past,” he observed.

The Lt Governor advised the students to be creative, focus on self-learning and remain rooted in ancient values. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other digital tools will help new ideas, curiosity and creativity to provide new momentum to nation-building.