World amazed by speed at which India progressing: Vice President Dhankhar

Jaipur: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Tuesday that India has changed a lot from the political, social and economic points of view and the world is surprised by the speed at which the country is progressing.

Dhankhar was addressing a training programme organised for the members of the 16th Rajasthan Assembly here.

'India has changed so much. It has changed so much from the political, economic and social points of view, and we have become famous in the world that we are not dependent on any other country now.

'Today, India is the fifth economic superpower of the world. We have left Canada and France behind. We have left behind those who ruled us for centuries. In the coming two-three years, India will be the third economic superpower, leaving behind Japan and Germany,' he said.

Addressing the MLAs, the vice president further said, 'Your contribution in this is huge. It is the contribution of the leadership, policies and also the common man. There are more challenges before you. The world is amazed at the speed at which India is progressing. The world could not imagine whether India could ever become like this.'

Dhankhar said, 'We never thought that India's infrastructure and technological development would be of this level. This is the result of the blood and sweat of every Indian. It is because of the policies and spirit of dedication. The most important duty of the legislature is to keep both the executive and the judiciary in the right perspective.' He said that the House must keep the executive in the dock and show the right path to the executive as per the rules.

Referring to the proceedings of the assembly, the vice president said, 'It is the responsibility of both the ruling party and the opposition to run the House and give direction to the state. The ruling party can give suggestions, but I believe that the suggestions given by the opposition should be considered with more contemplation.'

He said that today people are worried after seeing the conduct of the legislature. 'The shelf-life of causing disruption in the House could make newspaper headlines tomorrow. It can have an effect for a week. But the effect does not last long.' Dhankhar said he has always believed that India's biggest strength is its democracy.

'Our democracy is the oldest and the most effective. Everyone accepts the change of power. It is not so in the developed countries of the world. Even in a country that considers itself the most developed, a change of power does not happen easily,' he said.

The vice president said that India is an ideal democracy for the world because 'our cultural heritage is 5,000 years old'.

Earlier, Speaker Vasudev Devnani and Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma also expressed their views and welcomed Dhankhar.

On reaching Jaipur in the morning, the vice president and his wife, Sudesh Dhankhar, were welcomed by Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Deputy Chief Minister Premchand Bairwa and Churu MP Rahul Kaswan.