President Kalam calls on youth to adopt politics as a career

NEW DELHI: At a time when the image of politicians is at a low, President APJ Abdul Kalam has called on youth to adopt politics as a career and urged citizens to elect the right people. The President’s advice came in his traditional address to the nation on the eve of the country’s 58th Republic Day.

The President painted a rosy picture of the country on the march towards progress and prosperity and urged people from all walks of life including professionals and home makers to join in the nation building endeavour. “Our nation has come across a situation ,all at a time, of an ascending economic trajectory, continuously rising foreign exchange reserves, increasing domestic investment, and global success of Indian managerial and entrepreneurial talents,” he said.

The President also took a cue from one of US President John F Kennedy’s famous speeches delivered in 1961: “Ask not of what the country has done for you but of what you can do for the country.”

Delivering what most people believe was his last Republic Day address, President Kalam said that the country was in a position to reach the goals it had set for itself for 2020 much in advance through a national movement of development.

“If we perform in an integrated way with development politics as the focus and with transparency, a prosperous India is possible even before 2020,” he said.