Border-free state a utopian idea now: VP

Patna/Biharsharif: Vice-President

Hamid Ansari

, who is on a two-day visit to the state beginning Thursday, has said border-free state in the world today is a utopian idea.

He was interacting with students of revived Nalanda University at the International Convention Centre at

Rajgir

on Thursday. Ansari started the dialogue, saying, “I don’t intend to deliver a lecture. I rather want to know your thoughts.”

The Vice-President was accompanied by Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind and state education minister Ashok Choudhary. On his arrival at the Patna airport in a special aircraft earlier, he was welcomed by CM Nitish Kumar.

Ansari answered a number of questions on border-free states, industrialization, environment, ecology and rapid globalization etc, asked by the university students. “The idea of border-free state is utopian in present context. In ancient times, however, people moved freely from one state to another without any permit, but now we are creating more and more barriers where national interests are supreme,” he said.

Maintaining that we are required to broaden our outlook and change our thinking to be a global citizen, he, however, said today’s world had stopped think for the world of tomorrow.

In reply to a question on sustainable targeted growth, the VP said, “Education, health and environment are its indicators, but allocations of funds for these sectors are inadequate. We are committed to teaching children up to a certain level under the Right to Education Act but teachers are not ready to deliver.”

In reply to a question on industrialization, he said manufacturing cars and setting up steel factories only were not industrialization. “Villagers producing goods in Bihar, UP and Bengal is also industrialization,” he said and added development was essential for human survival but it should not be achieved at the cost of environment and ecology.

He also spoke to the university’s faculty members. Before flying for Patna, he visited the ruins of ancient Nalanda Mahavihara.

The VP, who will spend the night at the

Raj Bhawan

, also attended a dinner hosted by CM at his residence in Patna.
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