Asserting that the son of a farmer would always commit himself to the truth, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Monday that the path to a developed India passes through its villages.

Speaking after inaugurating the Advanced Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme (A-ESDP) campus at National Agri-Food and Biomanufacturing Institute (NABI), Mohali, Punjab, the Vice President reiterated his conviction that the 21st century belongs to Bharat, and startups must trickle to villages.

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In this context, he asserted that there should be “no short change for the farm sector, and no short-change for the farmer”.

Mr Dhankhar further said, “I see farm produce is sold when it is not farmers market, it is buyers market. The government provides facilities to hold on to the stock by massive warehousing and cooperative movement. I can tell you the farm policies of the government are helping the farmer. The farmer has to know about it. You can play a great role. Because we cannot allow our farmers to get anything but the very best, no short change for the farm sector, no short change for the farmer. That has to be our motto.”

Calling for the revitalisation of rural economies through micro-industries that add value to agricultural and dairy products, Vice-President Dhankhar said: “There must be evolution of a mechanism in a village or in a cluster of villages where you have micro industries at the farm that add value to the agro produce, that add value to the livestock produced, milk produced. This will help evolve a sustainable society and the nutritional food value will certainly go up.”

He further said that technology must be integrated into farming practices to improve efficiency and productivity saying, “Startups are there in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. They have to trickle down to villages now because agriculture produce is the lifeline of the economy, raw material for industry. And when this takes place, close to the farmland in the rural firmament, evolving as a cluster, the economy will take a jump, and people will believe in the farmland.”

Urging farmers to stay informed about advancements in technology and its potential benefits, the Vice President said: “A farmer is by and large clinging to his tractor. He wants to use the tractor for as long as it can last, ignorant of the fact that new technology is becoming environment-friendly, fuel-efficient, multifunctional, and highly subsidized. There has to be an awareness campaign.”

“I am the son of a farmer. A son of the farmer would always commit himself to truth…India’s soul resides in its villages, with the rural system serving as the backbone of the nation. The path to a developed India passes through its villages. A developed India is no longer just a dream; it is our goal,” he said, while emphasising his deep-rooted connection to agriculture.

Speaking on the significance of research, he laid out a clear vision: “All institutions in the country will have to pass the litmus test. And the litmus test is—what impact is being created? In a positive sense, it should be like an earthquake, with the impact being felt. A research for the sake of research, a research that is for the self, a research that is to be kept on the shelf, the research that comes out as a personal embellishment is not the research which the nation needs.”

“Research is not giving a paper by scratching the surface. Research is not to impress the one who is ignorant of the subject. Research is to impress those who know the subject as much as you know or more than you know at a global benchmark. And that research can’t be just abstract academics. The research has to have an impact on what we are doing. And I’m sure this is an area where you have enough scope,” he noted.

Reiterating India’s civilizational strength, the VP stated: “The century belongs to Bharat. This is being doubted by no one except some in our country. My appeal to them, as an Indian, as a Bharatiya: our commitment to our nation, belief in the principle of the nation being first, and subscribing to the ideology that no interest—personal, political, or otherwise—is higher than national interest.”

Priyank Bharti, IAS, Administrative Secretary, Technology & Environment, Govt of Punjab, Prof Ashwani Pareek, Executive Director, BRIC-NABI, Ekta Vishnoi, IRS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt of India and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.