It's advantage India as working-age population will last till 2055: Naidu

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said the "next 30 years" are crucial for India in terms of the demographic dividend as the "bulge" in the working-age population of the country will last till 2055.

He also called upon the need to equip the youth with skills that will enable them to face 21st century challenges.

Naidu was addressing the 62nd convocation ceremony of Sardar Patel University at Vallabh Vidyanagar in central Gujarat.

"More than 65 per cent of our population today is below 35 years of age and that is really a huge advantage. This bulge in working-age population is set to last till 2055. Therefore, next 30 years are very crucial for India. We need to skill and equip our youth for the challenges of the 21st century," he said.

"Today, India is going through a phase which is filled with hope and opportunities. As the vice president, I have visited many foreign countries and one common thing that I have experienced is that everybody has faith in India's capabilities, talent and efforts," he added.

On the occasion, Naidu called upon the graduating students to work for the uplift of those who are not as fortunate as them.

"We should leave the path of caste, creed, cash and criminality and adopt goals set by our heritage like character, calibre, capacity and contact," he advised them.

"We should adopt the mantra of reform, perform and transform given by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he added.

Earlier, Naidu paid tributes to Sardar Patel at his statue on the university campus on his 69th death anniversary.

"I am told that barring a few occasions, Sardar Patel University has maintained its half-a-century long tradition of holding its annual convocation on December 15th as an institutional gesture of commemorating the death anniversary of Sardar Patel," he said.

A total of 119 students were presented with gold medals at the convocation ceremony, which was also attended by Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama.