While presiding over the ‘Medhavi Chhatr Samman Samaroh’ organised by vernacular daily Amar Ujala here today, Governor Acharya Devvrat appealed the students not to forget human values while pursuing their studies.“Anyone may work in any area, but he or she should have the quality of humanity because humanist thinking is the basic foundation of our culture”, said the Governor. He said children besides getting higher education should also develop values. The parents were the real well wisher of their wards so it was their moral responsibility to develop qualities of being a great human being in them.He said that our children should be healthy in terms of health and also become cultured with the view of thoughts. He stressed teachers should inculcate the moral values in the students to make them successful citizens of the nation. He also called for the movement against drug addiction.Acharya Devvrat said that it was a matter of great pride for him to honour the students who had achieved excellence and stood in merit in HP Board of School Education, State toppers of CBSE and ICSE. He hoped that award-winning students would continue to progress at the same pace and bring glory to the State as well as the Country.He expressed happiness over the fact that girl students were more in numbers among award-winning students and said education of girls was very important in building a strong and healthy society.The Governor lauded the efforts of the Amar Ujala group for awarding meritorious students of the State and making this an annual affair.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that media plays an important role in bridging gap between government and people by their day-to-day reporting as it make the public aware about the policies and programmes of the government and people reactions to the government.Jai Ram Thakur said that state government always welcomed the constructive criticism as this go a long way in preparing the welfare and other policies according to the aspirations of the people. The state government has launched various schemes for meritorious students so that they don't need to leave the school for want of funds.The Chief Minister said that the students should be focused towards achieving the aim of their lives for which they need to work with full commitment, dedication and hard work. There was no short cut for success as it can only be achieved by complete dedication and hard work. He said that the state government has launched ‘Medha Protsahan Yojana’ for providing coaching facilities to the deserving students for preparing for competitive examinations. While lauding the efforts of the Amar Ujala Group for organising such functions, the Chief Minister said that these events go a long way in encouraging and motivating the students to perform better in life. He said that the teachers and parents of the award winning students need special mention as it was due to their guidance and motivation that the students succeeded in performing best in the examination.
Jai Ram Thakur expressed hope that other organizations would also draw inspiration from Amar Ujala for supplementing the government’s efforts in welfare and other allied activities as such types of philanthropic activities give satisfaction to the individuals and encourage to do better in their lives.He said that Amar Ujala was indeed doing a commendable service in the field of journalism by perusing high standard of journalistic ethics.Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj said the education sector was the priority of Centre and state governments. The country has become a 'Vishwa Guru' of its rich culture and education system. Himachal Pradesh was the pioneering state of the country in the field of education and the state government was also promoting Sanskrit language and it was being considered as compulsory up to 10th standard.He said that all examination buildings have been linked to CCTV and special emphasis was being given on qualitative education. Expressing concern over growing drug addiction among the youth of the state, he said that this evil can be removed through collective efforts. Now, the time has come to undertake new reforms in the education sector for making it more efficient and qualitative.Resident Editor, Amar Ujala Rakesh Bhatt welcomed and honoured the Governor and Chief Minister besides other dignitaries.As many as 190 students who topped in 10th and Plus two were honoured by the Governor and the Chief Minister on the occasion.Unit Head, Amar Ujala Dheeraj Roman proposed a vote of thanks.Mayor Kusum Sadret, Deputy Mayor Rakesh Sharma, Chairman, HP Board of School Education Suresh Soni, Advisor to the Governor Shashikant Sharma, Director General of Police S.R. Mardi, Director, Information & Public Relations Harbans Singh Brascon and other senior officers were present on the occasion.