Underlining the role of Allahabad in the Independence movement, President Ram Nath Kovind today said that places like 'Anand Bhavan', the residence of Jawaharlal Nehru and the birth place of Indira Gandhi, were the centre of several activities related to the freedom struggle.
Speaking at the convocation of the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology here, Kovind said the supreme sacrifice made by revolutionary Chandra Shekhar Azad has turned this city into a pilgrimage site.
He said that on several occasions, the activities of the national movement for freedom were guided from Anand Bhavan or Swaraj Bhavan, the ancestral home of Gandhi family founded by Motilal Nehru.
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While writers and poets like Prem Chand, Surya Kant Tripathi 'Nirala', Sumitra Nandan Pant, Mahadevi Verma, 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri, Harivansh Rai 'Bachchan' were expressing themselves in literature here, scientists like Meghnath Saha, K Banerjee, Neel Ratan Dhar, Harish Chandra, Gorakh Prasad and S K Joshi were enlightening the people with their knowledge, he said.
"Leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Acharya Narendra Dev, Ram Manohar Lohia, Chandra Shekhar and Vishwanath Pratap Singh have enriched the political thought of the country," he said.
Speaking on the occasion, the President expressed happiness at the fact that since 2007 the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology has the status of an "Institute of National Importance".
He noted that talented students from this institution are contributing immensely in the country and abroad. The MNNIT, he said, should now set itself the goal of figuring in the global rankings of best technology institutions, a statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
The President added that education is the foundation of our country, it said.
He said that in all the convocation ceremonies that he has attended, first as the governor of Bihar and then as the president, he saw girls outperforming boys. "I feel, when daughters march ahead, the nation marches ahead."
True education, apart from providing technical skills, makes people aware of their responsibilities towards society by building an ethical character, it said, adding that this is the real contribution of education to the nation.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya were also present at the occasion.
Maurya said that Allahabad has "all the institutions, except an IIT". "We hope, soon there will be an IIT here," he said.
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