New Delhi: Former vp M Hamid Ansari on Sunday conferred the 25th Rajiv Gandhi Nationwide Sadbhavana Award for 2020-21 on Banasthali Vidyapith, a residential establishment for girls in Rajasthan. The award was handed over to Siddhartha Shastri of the establishment within the presence of Congress Parliamentary Get together chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The award, instituted in 1992 to mark the golden jubilee of the Give up India Motion, is given to a person or establishment for particular contribution in direction of peace, communal concord and nationwide unity, and carries a money reward of Rs 10 lakh and a quotation.
It’s offered on the beginning anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
On the award ceremony, Sonia Gandhi mentioned the beliefs of communal concord, peace and nationwide unity have turn out to be extra vital at a time the forces giving rise to hatred, division in society, bigotry and politics of bias are getting extra energetic.
“They’re additionally getting the assist of the ruling dispensation,” she alleged.
She famous that her husband Rajiv Gandhi’s life got here to an finish in a “very merciless method”, however he made a number of achievements within the brief time he spent within the service of the nation.
“Rajiv Gandhi’s political profession was completed in a brutal method however he achieved many milestones in that brief time. He was very delicate in direction of the variety of the nation,” she mentioned.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated at a ballot marketing campaign rally in 1991.
Sonia Gandhi mentioned the empowerment of ladies was very pricey to Rajiv Gandhi and was all the time on his ideas and that’s the reason he gave 33 per cent illustration to ladies in panchayati raj establishments.
His authorities additionally lowered the age of voting to 18 years from 21 years, she mentioned.
“There’s a saying that in case you educate a person, you solely educate one particular person, however in case you educate a lady, you educate a whole household and technology,” she famous, whereas lauding the stellar position performed by Banasthali Vidyapith in fulfilling the goals of Rajiv Gandhi.
In his tackle, Kharge mentioned as of late many try to underplay the achievements of Rajiv Gandhi.
He mentioned Rajiv Gandhi obtained the biggest-ever mandate of 401 Lok Sabha seats however gave equal significance to all, together with the opposition, and even the get together which on the time had solely gained two seats in Lok Sabha.
Kharge additionally mentioned that in Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as prime minister, a number of key payments had been handed after correct dialogue, not like at this time when payments are handed with none dialogue and after terming them cash payments to keep away from scrutiny of Rajya Sabha.
Ansari mentioned the award is given for excellent contribution in direction of promotion of communal concord, nationwide integration and peace.
“These goals are interlinked and the variety and complexity of excellent citizenship requires a pledge to work for the emotional oneness and concord of all of the individuals of India no matter caste, area, faith, or language and to resolve all variations amongst them by means of dialogue and constitutional means with out resorting to violence,” he mentioned.
“Social concord in our huge, plural society emanates from, and results, all segments and all ages. The foremost amongst them is the segmentation on the premise of intercourse, between women and men. It’s pure, it’s apparent, however because of this taken with no consideration; so are its prejudices sometimes called patriarchy,” Ansari famous.
Siddhartha Shastri of Banasthali Vidyapith mentioned the establishment was arrange in 1935 from a modest starting of 5 lady college students in mud huts by Pandit Hiralal Shastri, a freedom fighter who went on to turn out to be Rajasthan’s first chief minister.
It’s now imparting training to greater than 15,000 lady college students from nursery to doctoral ranges.
