It is not by accident that the choice has fallen upon institutions working for the development of weaker sections through the spread of education in the rural and backward areas of our vast country where the bulk of our people live.  Throughout our long history the overwhelming majority of our masses, as in many other lands, had lived in ignorance and poverty, and had been the victims of discrimination and exploitation by a privileged minority.  Century after century men of religion, great teachers and great social reformers had arisen in our country who launched spiritual and educational movements for the liberation of the oppressed masses.  Gautam the Buddha was one of the earliest of such social revolutionaries who brought spiritual enlightenment and liberation to the people from  a ritual-ridden and hierarchical  social system.  But the forces of social reaction, of exploitation and domination  were ever asserting themselves whenever the momentum of the reforms movement waned and weakened.

Over a century ago Swami Vivekananda thundered from every corner of India and from abroad that the cause of the decline and the ruination of India had been the  monopolisation of education in a few hands and its denial to the broad masses of our people.  It is well-known how the lower classes and womenfolk were excluded from learning Sanskrit and the Vedas by a wicked custom as well as by the laws of society.  The Indian Renaissance movement followed by the national movement challenged this root cause of the subjugation of our country.  In 1917 Mahatma Gandhi argued that "in education lies the key to Swaraj" and warned that "Swaraj will not last long without ... education".

Babasaheb Ambedkar, the greatest champion of the weaker sections in our time, was intensely aware of the strategic importance of education in the attainment of India's independence, in the promotion of democracy and in the liberation of the common man from economic subjection and social servitude.  Even while a student in America he wrote that it would be only through the education of young men and women that India would achieve social progress.  And in 1927 speaking in the Bombay Legislative Assembly he  warned that "If we do get self-government notwithstanding the fact that three-fourths of the population is drenched in ignorance, our representative system will be a sham and there would be a rule of wealth against poverty, of power against weakness".  And in the same Legislative Assembly he had declared: "We may forgo material benefits ... but we cannot forgo the rights and the opportunity to reap the benefits of the highest education to the fullest extent.  That is the importance of this question from the point of view of the backward classes who  have just realized that without education their existence is not safe". 

 The simple and inescapable fact is that unless the Dalits and weaker sections are given education the  social, political and economic rights made available to them by constitutional provisions and governmental policies will remain  a dead letter in practice.  Of what use will be reservation if the society does not produce sufficient number of people from among the reserved classes to avail of the opportunities.  One finds of late certain resentment among the upper classes of the educated Dalits getting these positions in Government and it is often said that a kind of Dalit elite or aristocracy is cornering all the benefits denying them to the masses.  It is often forgotten that be it among the Dalits or the upper classes it is the educated who  corner all the opportunities in society.  If the educated Dalits do not get the benefits, who else would be there among them to enjoy the benefits?  But as a matter of fact several studies and surveys have proved that the majority of Dalits who get the reserved jobs and educational positions are the sons and daughters of labourers, sweepers and such others belonging the lowest strata, and only a tiny minority of them come  from the affluent sections of these classes.

The institution that we are honouring to-day - the Rayat Shikshan Sanstha - is a reputed social and educational organization of Maharashtra, which has done pioneering work in spreading education in the rural society, particularly among Dalits and weaker sections.  Founded by the great social reformer, Karmavir  Bhaurao Patil, it was inspired by the ideals of Mahatma Phule and Mahatma Gandhi.  It was blessed by Gandhiji personally in 1927.  With 435 secondary schools and 40 colleges including engineering and technical institutions and student hostels and ashrams it is one of the largest educational institutions run by a voluntary agency in India catering to over three and a half lakh students.  While its central purpose is to provide educational facilities to the weaker sections, particularly in rural and backward areas, it is open to all castes and creeds.  Indeed, its philosophy is to integrate all classes  by making them live together in the same hostels and study and work together in the same places. 

The social strategy adopted by Bhaurao Patil was that of the indirect approach intended to remove caste distinctions  and untouchability by bringing up as  large number of rural  children as possible in an environment in which caste and creed were habitually ignored.  Another important aspect of its work has been to incorporate the habit of manual work and self-help into the education of boys and girls.  This is a system which is worth wider emulation in our country to-day.   It is the long-term solution to the problem of caste and other distinctions in our society.    This type of education is the most effective, though a gradual method of realising the ideal of democracy for which Babasaheb Ambedkar worked.

\Babasaheb Ambedkar, while a passionate believer in the method of education for realising democracy, also believed in the need for political  and social activism.  That is why he coined the slogan "Educate, Organize, Agitate".  We see to-day that the social reform movement started in the period of the national movement, the movement against casteism and communalism has lost its momentum in our country, and indeed a social counter-revolution is sweeping our land.  In this context it is necessary to organize and agitate against the evils of our system apart from pursuing the patient method of education.  But education is the lasting, the permanent solution to these evils.  Hence we pay our tribute to the invaluable work being done by the Rayat Shikshan Santha.  While I request  Rashtrapatiji to give away the Award, I extend my hearty congratulations to the Rayat Shikshan Sanstha.

Thank you