Andhra Pradesh - Tirupati   

Good citizens make a better society: Kalam

— Photo: K.V. Poornachandra Kumar

Thumbs up: Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam greeting a school girl dressed as Bharat Mata at the interaction programme organised by ‘Lead India 2020’ in Tirupati on Thursday.

TIRUPATI: “Today I take a vow. I make a promise that I will bring smile and happiness to my mother, father and all members of my family…”.

Even as the former President of India Bharat Ratna A.P.J. Abdul Kalam uttered these words, the thousands of students in the audience parroted behind him in a thundering chorus. Over 12,000 students drawn from schools in Tirupati and elsewhere in Chittoor district, who were being provided training by ‘Lead India 2020 Foundation’, took part in the interactive session. Dr. Kalam was all praise for the district machinery and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams management for extending support to the training programme aimed at making the students better citizens of tomorrow.

Bubbling with enthusiasm, the former President was at his usual ease with the children when he explained that Lead India, considered the second nationalist movement for development, was launched to rid the society of its evils like corruption, laxity, illiteracy and indifference. “An ignited mind can be a powerful tool in achieving a knowledge society,” he said and observed that dreaming it small was a crime.

The students quizzed the former President on a range of issues such as the best discovery in the world to the steps to free the planet of terrorism. Dr. Kalam patiently answered all their queries, which were translated into Telugu by the TTD Executive Officer K.V. Ramanachary. The students also displayed to him the 69,000 postcards ready to be mailed to the public asking them not to sell away their votes for money.

National coordinator N.B. Sudershan Acharya said that the training programme was conducted in the district after Medak and Karimnagar, while Chittoor had the highest number of 69,000 trained students, referred to as ‘change agents’. General President D.J. Ramesh delivered the inaugural address.

Vice-Chancellors N. Prabhakara Rao (SVU), G. Subramanyam (SVIMS University), S. Sudarsana Sarma (SV Vedic University) and Hare Krishna Satapathy (Sanskrit University), TTD Chairman D.K. Adikesavulu and TUDA chairman C. Bhaskar Reddy were among the participants.

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