NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh regretted that there is a negative perception about politics in the country and said the NDA government is working to change it.
"The perception about politics has changed over the years. The youth today thinks that the meaning of politics is cheating, telling lies, misleading and backstabbing...but this is not the aim of politics," he said addressing students at Sri Ram College of Commerce.
Holding that the word politics has "lost its meaning", Singh said the NDA government was working to establish its relevance again and that "right approach and ideology" was key between "performing and non-performing" assets.
"The word politics has lost its meaning and its relevance today but I want to appeal to the youth to be positive and assure you that our government is working to establish the same meaning and relevance again," he said
"Like the shape of the liquid is defined by the container it is stored in, similarly the nature of politics depends on whose hands it is in," he said. Quoting analysis of similarities between tech-giant Infosys and Al-Qaeda by Pulitzer awardee Thomas Friedman, the Home Minister said while one is boon, the other is a bane for the society.
"One will be surprised to know the similarities between Al-Qaeda and Infosys. Both have global network, talented and creative youth and both were established during the same time frame but while Infosys symbolises creative talent, Al-Qaeda symbolises destructive capability. One is boon and another is bane for the society.
"Similarly, having talent and knowledge is important but having the right approach and ideology is what differentiates between performing and non performing assets," he added. Singh said youths are an asset for India and all they need is an opportunity to perform.
"In our over one-and-half-year-long tenure so far, the government has formulated many schemes to give those opportunities but we fear that the youth should not turn into a non-performing asset for our country and society," he said.