Vice President Naidu calls for end to untouchability

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said today it's unfortunate that the menace of untouchability still continued in the country and called for an end to the practice, which is against Indian culture and tradition.

"Now, unfortunately, after so many years of civilisation and Independence, even today we hear about untouchability - somebody is not allowed to (enter) temple, somebody is not allowed to enter other places of worship, somebody is discriminated, high caste, low caste. It has to be ended," Naidu said.

He was addressing a gathering after conferring the Adi Shankara Young Scientist Awards 2018 at Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering & Technology in Kalady, the birthplace of Adi Shankara - an Indian philosopher and theologian of the eight century, near here.

The vice president said, "We have to get rid of the practice of untouchability" which Hindu philosophy never allowed and move towards Adi Shankaracharya who had set an example.

Naidu, who visited Kalady for the first time, said the Shankaracharya was a rare blend of a spiritual poet, a spiritual genius, an institution builder, and a philosophical pathbreaker.

"His message was inclusion. That is the need of the hour. We should not exclude anybody. We should not discriminate against anybody. We should not deny opportunities to anybody. We should think inclusively," he said.

The vice president said that along with "gross national income, we must focus on how science and technology can foster greater happiness and better quality of life as well as harmonious inclusive societies".