Jaitley in Amritsar, encourages students to aim for excellence (Update)

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today encouraged students to achieve academic excellence and contribute in the nation's growth to make India a developed nation.

Delivering an address at the 108th convocation of Khalsa College, Amritsar in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Jaitley motivated the students to proceed with the motto of 'excellence' in their academic career to become a partner in the growth of the nation.

Emphasizing on the need to impart quality education, Jaitley said India now have a 35 crore strong middle class and has also witnessed an unprecedented increase in service sector in recent years.

He said that the service sector is in dire need of professional and skilled manpower, which could be provided through quality education.

Focusing on the possibilities of religio-cultural tourism in Punjab, Jaitley said that Amritsar has great potential in this field. He mentioned that Punjab had achieved a lot in agriculture, tourism, infrastructure and education and could explore more new avenues of growth.

Lauding Punjab Chief Minister Badal for maintaining social harmony in the state, Jaitley said that Badal had emerged as pillar of social concord in the country.

Badal said that in this globally competitive era, educational institutions should lay stress on quality and purposeful education.

He said that during the last seven years Punjab had created exemplary infrastructure in the education sector and secured No. 1 position in the country.

He said the state had also taken the lead by achieving 8 percent growth in the education sector and 20 percent in teaching faculty.

Apprising Jaitley about the present edu-scenario in the state, Badal said Punjab had setup 11 universities and prestigious institutes in the state including Indian School of Business at Mohali and IIT Ropar. He also requested Finance Minister to visit the state once in a month to look into the development issues.

Jaitley and Badal accompanied by Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla, conferred degrees to the 226 meritorious and pass outs students of Khalsa College.