Kerala CM Gives Leadership Lessons To Students

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 17: Integrity and commonsense are two important attributes of a leader, said Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy while interacting with students after he inaugurated Lead World 2013 - a leadership orientation programme for youth - organised jointly by Open Space Youth Initiative and Asian School of Business (ASB) on February 16.

 

The strength of democracy comes from the fact that an elected representative has the trust of the people, the Chief Minister said. "People should feel that the leader can be trusted and is credible. If the leader does not honour his commitment to the people, or when his speech and action does not match, he will lose the trust of the people. A leader should be someone who can sustain the trust imposed by the people."

During an hour-long interactive session, moderated by Member, Planning Board and Member Secretary, ASB Shri G Vijaya Raghavan, the Chief Minister warmed the hearts of students as he shared anecdotes of his student days that contributed to his life in the public sphere.
One of Shri Chandy's tasks as a member of the Balajana Sakhyam, of which he became a member in his fifth standard, was to mobilise people to attend the Saturday meetings. "I would start my door-to-door visits at dawn and invite people to the meeting. After the meeting, I would again visit the houses of those who did not make it, but not with a complaint against their not attending. In the process, I could develop greater rapport with the people."

The students were all inspired when the Chief Minister narrated an incident when he gave away his gold ring to support the education of a bright fellow-student. "One of my friends needed Rs 30 for admission to a technical college. I and my other friends tried to raise the money, but we could not make it. So I asked another friend of mine to raise the money from pawning my ring. I was very happy when my friend could enroll for his course. The ring was however auctioned off by the time we made the money to recover it."

Shri Chandy also lamented the fact Kerala had lost out on precious opportunities due to its closed attitude to change. "With Kerala's achievements in education, we could very well have been a number one state in IT, which has revolutionised lives. Our closed attitude to this change has meant that our IT exports were only Rs 3,260 crores last year as against the country's leader Karnataka which had IT exports to the tune of Rs 77,000 crores," he reiterated.

Kerala CM Gives Leadership Lessons To Students

Kerala CM Gives Leadership Lessons To Students

Integrity and commonsense are two important attributes of a leader, said Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy while interacting with students after he inaugurated Lead World 2013

Kerala Chief Minister gives leadership lessons to students

Kerala Chief Minister gives leadership lessons to students

The students were all inspired when the Chief Minister narrated an incident when he gave away his gold ring to support the education of a bright fellow-student. "One of my friends needed Rs 30 for admission to a technical college.

Chief Minister gives leadership lessons to students
 

Chief Minister gives leadership lessons to students

The Chief Minister cheerfully narrated his attachment towards his cycle as he was shown a photo of his participating in slow cycling race organised for MLAs.

The Chief Minister cheerfully narrated his attachment towards his cycle as he was shown a photo of his participating in slow cycling race organised for MLAs. "The old cycle belonged to my uncle; I used it during my student days." As parting words, Shri Chandy advised the students, "Hard work can overcome any failures and help you reach success. Hard work should be your motto for life; there are no shortcuts to this."

Shri PV Rajogopal, Vice Chairman, Gandhi Peace Foundation and President & Founding Member Ekta Parishad said there was a need to change the prevalent association of wisdom and age. "Young people should take greater roles and show the world that they are responsible, are disciplined and have societal commitment."

"Working with dacoits made me understand that land issues are the root cause of dacoity. People do not become dacoits for pleasure; it is societal injustice that prompts them to take up arms. The rich would take over the poor's land and throw out the poor. Land issues are a major cause of conflict in India," added Shri Rajagopal, who has worked extensively to rehabilitate the dacoits of the notorious Chambal Valley.

Shri George M Thomas, Patron, ASB was present on the occasion. Shri John Samuel, Global Democratic Governance Advisor, UNDP and founding mentor Open Space; Prof S Rajeev, Director, ASB and Shri Hari Nair, Faculty, ASB also spoke.

Over 100 students from various city colleges including Mar Baselios College of Engineering, Law Academy, Government College for Women, All Saints College, College of Engineering, Barton Hill Engineering College and Christ Nagar College participated in the group discussions that followed.

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