Ensure equal opportunities to all castes, religions: Pranab

Highlighting that inclusion and equal opportunity for all communities was the foundation of a free, progressive and modern India, President Pranab Mukherjee today stressed the need to remove all vestiges of disabilities from the lives of the SC/ST and backward class communities.
"Inclusion and equal opportunity for all communities is the foundation of a free, progressive, modern India. Persons of all castes, religions and regions are equal partners in the building of our country", he said here tonight.
He was delivering a speech at the valedictory function of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Social Reformer Ayyankali, organised by the Kerala Pulayar Mahasabha.

Equal opportunities must be ensured for all to enable people to realise their potential and develop their talents to the full, he said.
"We must invest our energies into the removal of all vestiges of disabilities from the lives of the Scheduled Castes, Tribes and Backward Classes.
"We must ensure creation of a society in which minorities can live in peace and do not have to fear or suffer deprivation", he said reminding the vast gathering of the Dalit community members that Ayankali had dedicated his life to the struggle against casteism and to achieve equality amongst all the people of the country.