Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday called upon students, teachers and all educational institutions to build a movement for water conservation and shunning single-use plastic.
Addressing a group of students from Uttarakhand, Naidu described water as mother earth's nectar and said the hilly state was blessed with water and forest resources, adding that it was the pious duty of the people to conserve these resources.
"At a time when we are looking for traces of water in search of life on the moon, we should give greater importance to conserving water on earth," he said.
Referring to the many scenic spots in Uttarakhand, the Vice President said that there was huge potential to promote tourism, particularly pilgrimage tourism in the state as it would also create job opportunities for locals in the state.
He said Swachh Bharat, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Per Drop More Crop, Poshan Abhiyaan and Yoga should be turned into people's movements.
The Vice President recalled the statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging people to explore 15 new domestic tourism destinations by 2022 and said that travelling itself was part of the learning process for the students as it would expose them to cultural diversity and unity of the country.
Pointing out that technology was changing at a rapid pace, Naidu urged the students to keep abreast of the latest technological developments and strive to build a New India.
( With inputs from ANI )