Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Westerners should desist from lecturing Indian leaders on the culture of charity.

“Most often we are lectured by the Western leaders that India should have a culture of charity. I thoroughly disgree with them with an example of the Institution (BITS Pilani) I’m standing here. It promotes good education, funds the needy students and sets a good example of various other charitable work they (Birla Group promoters) have done over the generations,” Sitharaman said after inaugurating BITS Pilani’s campus (for management, law and design) on the outskirts of Mumbai.

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She observed that it is immensely satisfying to know that ₹125 crore has been given as scholarships not by the government but in-house by the promoters.

The Minister underscored that today a growing India draws from its skilled youth, who contribute to this growth.

 “The impact of a well-rounded education is such that different services, different domains get benefit from their presence and today India’s growing start-up industry has benefited from BITSian youngsters,” said Sitharaman.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chanceller, BITS Pilani, said: “I believe the golden age of education lies ahead of us…This marks (establishing management, law and design schools) a new chapter in our journey towards redefining education for a far more interconnected world.”

Spread over 60 acres, with an investment of about ₹1,500 crore, Birla emphasised that the new BITS campus is a future-ready one that is designed to accommodate 5,000 students at peak capacity.

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