Vice President asks media to shun coverage based on caste & community

Newdelhi:30/4/19:The Vice President expressed his concern over the increasing role of caste and money in public life and called upon media to shun giving prominence to coverage based on caste and community criteria, especially during elections.

Delivering the First Dr Rajaram Jaipuria Memorial Lecture on Education, Entrepreneurship and Ethics at the Convention Center named after Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar in New Delhi today, the Vice President wanted the people to choose their public representatives on the basis of four C’s – Character, Caliber, Capacity an Conduct and said that unfortunately these four C’s were being subverted by some people by replacing them with four other C’s – Caste, Cash Criminality and Community.

Shri Naidu wondered the purpose behind media focusing on caste data in every constituency and wanted the media to focus on the public representatives past performance in legislatures and parliament in terms of the number of questions asked, matters raised on public importance and their commitment towards peoples welfare rather than giving coverage to tactics like stalling the proceedings.

Shri Naidu expressed his displeasure over diminishing values in public life and referred to increasing trend of changing party loyalties by politicians. He said that changing parties has become a fashion and politicians were making a mockery of democracy.

Shri Naidu has urged educational institutions to focus on skill-literacy and said that India’s demographic advantage could turn into a demographic dividend only if there was focus on skill development and continuous upgradation of knowledge and skills.

Expressing his concern over degeneration in ethical and moral outlook in different walks of life, the Vice President said education should lay a strong foundation towards building a society that upholds morals, ethics and values of humanism with an unwavering commitment.

Shri Shishir Jaipuria, the Chairman of Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions, Shri S.K Mohapatra, the Director of Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions and several prominent members of the business community and academia were present at the occasion.