'Education key to nation building'

"Educated youth should apply their knowledge towards nation building. Unless knowledge is applicable in the progress of the nation, the very knowledge they acquire will become redundant," said Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya.

He was speaking after inaugurating the Yuva Sammelana, a youth convention, organised by Ramakrishna Mutt, Mangaluru on the occasion of the 156th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda at the mutt premises in Mangaladevi on Saturday.

"We have no reason to be apologetic. Hundreds of years of British and Mughal rule have made us slaves of foreign ideologies, thereby creating an inferiority complex among us. Our thinking process was narrowed down. But now, it is high time to think and act in terms of strengthening the nation and every citizen has a role to play. The ultimate goal of everyone should be to strengthen the nation," he said.

Mutt hailed for initiative

Lauding the efforts of Ramakrishna Mutt in creating awareness on cleanliness, the Nagaland Governor called upon citizens to join hands with organisations like
Ramakrishna Mission so as to realise the dream of Swacch Bharat, as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has made all Indians proud.

The Governor said that he was a staunch Hindu in partiotic terms and believes in all-religion harmony. "Bharat mata is our Goddess", Acharya said.

'Fond memories of Udupi'

Stating that he was proud to be from Udupi, he recalled fond memories of studying at Christian High School, Udupi, from where he obtained his initial education.

'Bring NE to mainstream'

The Nagaland Governor asserted that eight states of North East should join the mainstream of national development.

"These eight states are like the eight pillars of the nation. A dormant society should be changed to a vibrant Indian and North East should be a part of it," he said.

Ramakrishna Mutt, Mangaluru President Swami Jithakamanandaji presided over the programme.

P B Acharya's spouse Kavitha Acharya, Opposition Chief Whip in Legislative Council Capt Ganesh Karnik, Government First Grade College, Car Street Principal Prof essor Rajashekhar Hebbar and resourceperson Professor K Raghothama Rao were present were present on the occasion.