Venkaiah Naidu

Agartala : Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said that the GST and demonetisation were “revolutionary steps” taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that many international institutions were highly appreciative of India’s growth.

“With the introduction of GST (Goods and Services Tax) and demonetisation, the Prime Minister took revolutionary steps. The GST revenue in April has crossed Rs 1.4 lakh crore, indicating high hopes for the new tax regime,” Naidu said in his convocation address at the Tripura University here.

He said: “Due to such reforms,India’s growth was projected around 9 per cent in 2022. Now is the era of LPG — Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation. The mantra of our Prime Minister is Reform, Perform and Transform.”

Asking the students to learn and promote their mother tongue, the Vice-President said that if they wanted to go abroad they should study there but return to India to enrich its human resource.

“For higher education and any other purposes, English is not necessary. Respect your mother, mother tongue and motherland. British cheated our minds. People of many countries do not speak English. You can learn English, but not at the cost of your mother tongue.”

“Do not celebrate any festival in memory of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Respect and celebrate the real “guru” (teacher) of your life. Don’t always go for Google search, replace Google by “guru.”

He also emphasised that horticulture, floriculture and cultivation of medicinal plants could hold great prospects for northeastern states.

The 11th convocation of the Tripura University was held after five years. As many as 142 scholars received Ph.D. degrees and around 400 students from many streams received gold and silver medals.

Vice-Chancellor Anjan Kumar Ghosh said that since 2015, the central varsity had decided to admit international students.

“Nearly a dozeen students from Bangladesh applied online and were admitted to various programmes. Now, students from Bangladesh are joining our Ph.D courses,” he added.

—IANS