Sangh Samachar
Nanaji honoured with Jnaneshwar award
FOC
Veteran social activist and Rajya Sabha MP, Shri Nanaji Deshmukh has been honoured with the first Jnaneshwar award at a function held at Vice President Secretariat in New Delhi on June 1. Vice President of India, Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat presented the award, which carry a shawl, a demand draft of Rs one lakh, a citation and a memento. The award has been instituted by the Jnaneshwar Vidyapeeth of Pune in its silver jubilee year. The Vice Chancellor of the Janeshwar Vidyapeeth and former Lok Sabha speaker, Shri Manohar Joshi presided over the function. Former Union Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and a number of other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
Presenting the award, Shri Shekhawat called for making innovative use of science and technology to suit local needs and resources. He said that Shri Nanaji Deshmukh, through his integrated rural development programme, had revolutionised the living standard of people in 500 villages around Chitrakut through application of science and technology as per the indigenous requirements so as to make the villagers self-reliant in their economic and social life. Vice President said education had become inaccessible to students belonging to ordinary families. ?Earlier people used to accept their fate by blaming God for their poverty; but today they have started blaming the system and economic policies for their poverty and a kind of resentment is growing among them. It must be understood and removed by the leaders of the country,? he added. Shri Shekhawat said that veterans like Nanaji Deshmukh had shown that even in the present times, it was possible to have sustainable development applying the principles of science and technology in an innovative manner based on local needs and resources.
Accepting the award, 89-year-old Nanaji Deshmukh voiced his regret at the decline in the feeling of patriotism and increase in selfishness among the countrymen. He stressed the need to instil the feeling of brotherhood and unity into the new generation through education.
