Kalam's 2020 mission: Creative leaders and developmental politics

Mumbai, July 18 (UNI) Emphasising the need for ''creative leaders'' to accomplish the 2020 mission of a developed nation, President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam today asked the young brigade to take up 'developmental politics' rather than following the prevalent 'political politics' in the country.

Launching the 150th year celebrations of Mumbai university, Dr Kalam exhorted students to take up developmental politics, if they chose politics as a career option. ''If you decide for a political career, you must equip yourself with subjects like political economics. While in politics, you must concentrate on developmental politics,'' he stressed while interacting with students.

According to the President, the trend of 'political politics' prevailing now was not good for the country. ''You must do 70 per cent developmental politics and rest should be devoted to political politics,'' he suggested.

''You as a voter would definitely vote for the best qualified person among the candidates,'' Dr Kalam said and added that in the present Lok Sabha, the number of MPs who were graduates, post-graduates and PhDs, had gone up considerably and the process was continuing.

Denying the statement that power and responsibility were being denied to young people, he said, ''In Parliament, industry, trade and commerce, the average age of people at the helm of affairs is coming down. For planning and implementation at higher levels, we need dynamism of the youth and the experience and maturity of the old. Both have to work together in accomplishing great missions.'' He said, in this regard, educational institutions should build the capacities of research, innovation, use of higher technology, enterpreneurial and moral leadership. Economic development had to go hand-in-hand with social justice and for this, the government and industry needed to be sensitive towards their social responsibilities.

On the need to amend the definition of rape and include marital rape under the Indian Penal Code like in many Western countries, he said, ''We cannot follow what the Western countries have done.

Social bond in Indian lives is much deeper than in the West. Our education level, particularly in the rural areas, has to go up.

Nationwide debate is needed to find the sentiments of all people in the country about the need for such enactments.'' Earlier, during the varsity's celebration, the President felicitated prominent personalities of Mumbai, including Mukesh Ambani, R K Laxman, Kishori Amonkar, Ajit Wadekar, Deepak Parekh, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Charles Correa, Vinda Karandikar, Dr Vijaya Mehta, B G Deshmukh, Dr B K Goyal, Y V Chandrachud, M S Gore, Julio Rebeiro and Dr Anil Kakodkar, with a scroll of honour for their illustrious contributions in their respective fields.

Maharashtra Governor S M Krishna, Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, State Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and the Vice Chancellors of Madras and Calcutta unversities were prominent among those present on the occasion.

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