VP Venkaiah Naidu urges young Indians to take inspiration from APJ Abdul Kalam to think out of box

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday urged youths to take inspiration from former president A P J Abdul Kalam to think out of the box and use technology to provide solutions to the various economic and societal challenges that impact large sections of India's population.

Referring to the impact of COVID-19 on migrant workers, he stressed the need to create employment and economic opportunities in villages and small towns. "We will have to focus on decentralised planning, capacity building of local bodies and large-scale promotion of cottage industries so that our villages and towns emerge as growth centres," he said. For this, Naidu asked the local bodies to be motivated to give a boost to local development.

Noting that Kalam passionately advocated the need to bridge the rural and urban divide through his PURA or provision of urban amenities to rural areas model, Naidu said this should be a priority for everyone.

Speaking at the virtual release of the book "40 Years with Abdul Kalam- Untold Stories" authored by Sivathanu Pillai, Naidu expressed happiness that it provided a gripping first-hand account of the former president's life. "The life of Dr Kalam sends a powerful message about how difficulties and setbacks when taken in the right spirit, serve as the key ingredients in making us robust in character and mindset," he observed.

Recalling some of his personal experiences with the former president, Naidu said, "I had many occasions to interact with Kalam when he was in DRDO and later as the President of India and every time I was struck by the depth of his knowledge and his sincere desire to transform the lives of the common people." Describing Kalam as a true Karma yogi, the vice president said he was an inspiration to every Indian. "He was an epitome of simplicity, honesty and wisdom. His contribution to strengthening India's defence and space capabilities is invaluable," he said.

Referring to Kalam's vision for India, Naidu said the former president always spoke of the need for India to become a developed nation given the vast natural resources and the talented pool of human resources in diverse fields.

Expressing happiness over the many innovations by the scientific community during the ongoing pandemic, the vice president said India which had nearly zero production capacity for personal protective equipment (PPE) at the onset of the pandemic, has now emerged as the second-largest producer of PPE kits in the world.

The vice president said that this success story needed to be replicated in other fields as well to create a truly 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', which was also the dream of Kalam who dedicated his entire life to make India self-reliant in defence and space technologies.