Kick starting his 'chai pe charcha' nation-wide campaign from Ahmedabad, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Wednesday said traditional Indian education has always laid a special emphasis on practical education.
"If a school teacher tries to instill civic sense in children, and implements a 'safai abhiyaan' programme, the media will start saying the teacher is making children work," he said.
He said in ancient times, a king's son and a common man's son studied in the same gurukul, but today, those structures don't exist anymore.
"You can't live by degrees alone; every nation is stressing on skill development. In our whole education system, if we stress on skill development, we will have the manufacturing sector come in; there will be growth. Even in agriculture, we need skilled manpower," Modi said.
"We should encourage research in our universities. No society can go forward without research and innovation. We should encourage research and innovation. We should have a national platform for innovations that aren't confined to the university system only. In most developed countries, universities play a major role in policy formulation," the Gujarat Chief Minister said.
Commenting on the Chief Minister's fellowship programme, Modi said that for 12 to 15 jobs, the government received between 1200-1500 applications.
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"The government must ensure that the programmes it devises reach the intended beneficiaries
They must also see that it benefits the target groups and the money is spent properly in the time allotted. The government should find beneficiaries of a project, and people shouldn't have to search for projects that benefit them," he added.
On the issue of government jobs, he said that it was a lamentable fact that fewer highly talented people were opting for civil service institutions such as the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Police Service, as there is wide disparity in terms of income earned and responsibility when compared to jobs in the more lucrative private sector.
"There is also a gap between the work culture of the governments and that of the corporate world
We need to make the work culture in the government more professional. The government and the society should work together. For instance, if there is a sports event, we can ask corporates to contribute their managerial skills and work with the government. We must learn to work together - the government and the corporate," Modi said.