BELGAUM: In his convocation address at the 11th Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) convocation here on Sunday, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the student community needed to build a strong nation by their strong and sincere efforts.
Describing VTU as one of the best universities in the nation, Mukherjee said all the 50,000 graduates should be proud to be part of such an institution.
He said the country needed a skilled force to conquer the technological challenges it was facing. He said the entire country was hopeful that these students would help the society with their skills.
He described technically skilled people as “walking force of the country” as they would help India secure the top position in the global technical sector.
According to him, there is a demand for the technically skilled in various sectors and called upon engineers to educate the unskilled ones.
He advised the graduates to concentrate on manufacturing sector and generating employment. “Manufacturing advanced equipment with new technology at minimum cost is the challenge before the engineers,” he said, adding that the engineers should invent techniques that could protect environment.
Mukherjee stressed that compared to other countries, India suffered less due to inflation. About the recession, he said India suffered slightly in comparison with Europe, Japan and other places. “India’s Gross Domestic Product witnessed eight per cent growth two years ago. India also wisely handled the inflation pressure,” he added.
He described Sir M Visvesvaraya as a “great visionary”, and said his contribution to build a strong nation would be remembered.
The honorary Doctor of Science award was conferred on Mukherjee in the last year’sconvocation.