Ahmedabad, June 12: Rural development is not theoretical; it happens only when people devoted to it committedly work for villages, Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah said on Sunday.

He was addressing the 41st Annual Convocation of the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) on the third day of his Gujarat visit today.

Shah said that if rural development is to be done in modern times, then its curriculum has to be suited to the times, it has to be formalized and according to the needs of today’s times, rural development will have to be converted and implemented on the ground. I believe that IRMA has taken it to the ground level in this holy land of Sardar Patel and Tribhuvan Bhai.

The Union Home Minister said that today 251 youth have been conferred degrees from here. He said that the person who moves from ‘Self’ to ‘For Others’ and thinks of others in place of himself is the only one who has wisdom. Today those who have been conferred degrees will be leaving after completing their education, but they must think of those for whom good life, education, and two meals a day is a dream. Shah said that when you think in this way, you will experience self-satisfaction.  You will not get satisfaction even after earning crores of Rupees, but after making a person self-sufficient in your life, you will get self-satisfaction. Salvation comes only when there is contentment in life and satisfaction comes from working for others. The Union Cooperation Minister remembered Dr.VergheseKurien and said he established this institute to promote sustainable, situation-friendly, equitable and equitable socio-economic development among the rural people and this objective should always be before the graduating students.  Wherever you get something in life, you should also aim to give it back.

Shah said that Gandhiji had said that the soul of India resides in its villages. If India is to become prosperous, comfortable and self-reliant, then the village has to be made prosperous, comfortable and self-reliant and this was started in 2014 by NarendraModii.