Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who presided over the 108th annual convocation of the Khalsa College here, today said that the country's future lies in quality education.
He said the emerging world is world of ideas and added that education shapes the minds and generates ideas for the progress of the human race.
The Finance Minister, who awarded the post-graduate degrees to 226 students and gold medals to other 50 students, said that quality education is must to enable the students to compete with the emerging competitive world. He said after agriculture and industry, the focus must now be on the 'soft competency'.
"There is world's largest transport company which does not own even a single vehicle. There are biggest online. which does not even have a single store. In the coming times, the banks and stores would be available only online," Jaitley said while speaking on the occasion.
"Our education system must focus on the future needs of the country and how we can make it to join the comity of the developed nations," he added.
Talking about Punjab, Jaitley said that the border state had faced numerous challenges and they were aware of its peculiar problems, including the need for more infrastructure and industrial growth. He added that the Centre was committed to help the state government to overcome the problems.
Jaitley lauded the heritage architectural building of the college and said he has not seen building of an educational institution of its kind throughout the world. He appreciated Khalsa College's contribution to the society by imparting quality education.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who was present on the occasion, stated that the Centre is aware of the various problems being faced by Punjab and the need to address those as he also batted for quality education and peace and harmony in the state.
Union Ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Vijay Sampla, Khalsa College Governing Council president Satyajit Singh Majithia, Secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, Principal Dr. Mehal Sing and Punjab BJP chief Kamal Sharma were also present during the academic function.
The Khalsa College, which is an 'A' Grade College under CGPA by National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), was recently adjudged as Heritage College by the University Grants Commission.
The students from M.Sc. (Maths, Physics, Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Computer Science, IT); MA (Economics, English, Political Science, Punjabi) and M.Com were given degrees during the convocation. (ANI)
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