Rajnath Singh exhorts youth to participate in nation-building

Lucknow, Apr 28 (PTI) Describing the youth as “invaluable wealth of the nation”, Union Minister Rajnath Singh today exhorted youngsters to contribute not only to country’s development but also help in “nation-building”.

Addressing a programme of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) here, the Union Home Minister said the country cannot develop without the participation of its 65 percent population — referring to the people younger than 35 years of age.

“No country considers its youth a burden … rather it considers them as contributors in development. Without getting their participation in development we cannot take the country to the heights that we want it to achieve,” he said.

Singh recalled his association with the ABVP and also invoked Swami Vivekanand to stress the need for youth to dedicate themselves towards national values.

He exhorted the youth to have patience towards the views of others.

“The youth need to realise that we can have a difference of opinion but we should not take them to heart,” he added.

Singh said that at the time of Independence, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) rate was around 3 or 3.5 percent with economists the world over predicting a similar level of growth rate for the country in future too.

“But when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the prime minister, the GDP went up to 8.4 percent for the first time and today no one can deny the fact that if there is any economy in the world which is rising at the fastest rate it is that of India,” he said.

“Can we reject this fact that the advantage that we have got because of our youth power has resulted in the rise in our GDP as youth are being made partners and contributors in development,” he said.

Singh said the country does not want to confine its youth only to conventional employment but also want to bring out their enterprising talent too.