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236 / JAIN STUDIES AND SCIENCE
President Dr. Kalam's Address “Respectable Acharyashree Mahapragyaji, Swamiji, Maulviji, Father,
My regards and greetings to you all. I am extremely happy to be in the midst of all of you spiritual leaders and devotees. I look upon it as a great undertaking that in collaboration with a spiritual group we have gathered here to deliberate upon the ways to translate into actuality our vision of a developed India. I attach great importance to this Conclave organized by Acharyashree Mahapragya. I did some homework in order to prepare myself for discussions with you, but after listening to you I have decided that I shall not read out the prepared text I brought with me.
I have gone round the sun seventy-two times and am now entering the seventy-third round. I put a question to myself: Have I ever experienced happiness during these seventy-two years? Is there anything beyond happiness? This question has been troubling me. On arriving here I read your Surat Spiritual Declaration. How beautifully you have researched the subject how to develop the feeling of solidarity in us! I consider this feeling of solidarity on the same level as strengthening of economy. On the one hand economic prosperity and on the other hand spiritual harmony - a conjunction of these two make an effective contribution towards making our country prosperous, developed, peaceful, secure and spiritual.
I read quite carefully the Surat Spiritual Declaration having five principles approved by you. Certainly the time has come when spiritual leaders, thinkers, philosophers and saints of our country should contribute to the transformation of the country. I deliberated with several religious leaders on a vision of advanced and developed India. I held discussion in five such areas where development is required: • agriculture and food preservation
education and health information and broadcasting technology
alternative resources • self-reliance in the field of technology
I also talked about the development of the villages so that villages too enjoy prosperity. I have called it PURA (Providing Urban Facilities in Rural Areas). Let villages also have urban facilities. This will become possible when these four systems are interlinked: material, electronic, intellectual and economic
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