Education is for empowerment not mere acquisition of degrees: Venkaiah Naidu

Deploring the commercialisation of education, he said education and medicine were treated as missions in the olden days. Education must produce socially conscious and responsible citizens who will strive selflessly for the larger good of society and the country. "Nobody will remember if you love yourself but you will become immortal if you live for others, then you will live long in the memory of others," he added.

Mr. Naidu was participating in the diamond jubilee celebrations of Sri Patibandla Seetharamaiah High School, Guntur. Addressing the students, teachers, and parents, the Vice-President stressed the importance of holistic education. Equal attention must be paid to physical fitness and activities like gardening. He reiterated the need to accord priority to imparting education in the mother tongue. It is important to be proficient in one's mother tongue while also learning other languages, he said.

Expressing his concern over the declining values in society, Mr. Naidu appealed to people to elect and support public representatives with 4 Cs – character, capacity, conduct (good), and calibre. He also stressed the need for people's representatives to possess discipline and commitment to people's welfare. The Vice-President added that he wished to see India as a strong and powerful nation where there is no hunger, illiteracy, and discrimination.

Later, the Vice-President visited the Annamayya Library in Guntur which has a rich collection of two lakh books, including some rare ones, on wide-ranging subjects. Mr. Naidu said every village must have a library and called for inculcating reading habit among children from an early age.