About two years have passed since Oil and Natural Gas Commission was established. Even before its establishment, Keshava Deva Malaviya used to discuss occasionally with me the schemes about this Commission. He kept me acquainted with the progress of this scheme and I was all the time interested to come here and personally see the progress, but this could not materialise before, due to certain unavoidable circumstances.
I am happy that now I have got this opportunity because after visiting this place, the picture which was all the time in my mind based on reports, etc., has taken a concrete shape. I have seen some of the activities of the Commission, I have discussed also and have got first-hand information as to how much progress has been made so far and the hopes we can entertain.
The first thing which impressed me is that Mr Ghosh and all his young colleagues are full of enthusiasm and it may not be exaggeration if I say that they are working like a hunter who is all the time pursuing his prey. It is essential that we should have some aim to pursue, because mere paper work done even for ten hours or more a day, is not enough.
If a person does not have a definite aim and objective in life, in which he is interested, he lives a very ordinary life; there must be something to make him interested. Some lose the interest, fall into the routine rut and beat a trodden tract and thereby make their lives uninteresting. I do not say that such a life is useless, but without aim, it leaves a vacuum. The world is progressing rapidly and there are spectacular advancements in science. These are good things, but one more thing is manifested that in spite of this all round progress, our young generation is perplexed as to the aim of this progress and where the world is leading to and with what aim? All these thoughts arise in their minds because we are passing through a changing period and in such a changing period such doubts are bound to arise.
I am much older to you and have gained considerable experience during the last 20 to 40 years. I have spent 10 – 12 years in jail, and Keshava Deva Malaviya was also in jail with me. We had then a definite purpose which kept our minds engaged. During this period we had learnt some new methods, gained some new experiences, but the objective we had in our minds before is quite different from the one we have in our minds today. Such change in aim, objects and functions happen to all countries as well as in the life of an individual.
The greatest aim before us today is to free our country from financial stringencies and to create maximum amenities for all. In implementing our scheme there are many hurdles to be overcome. No country can escape these whether she is America, Russia, Japan or China. All have to toil and work hard to achieve quick results so that the common man may benefit out of these.
You are after search for oil and you know in the modern world oil is a very costly commodity. Some call it ‘Black Gold’. In fact, it is costlier than gold in some respects. We have to look to other countries for this commodity. Hence, we must find oil in our own country and improve our financial position and be self-sufficient. You all are engaged in such an important scheme that if it succeeds, it will be of great importance to our country.
Oil is a new thing to us and we did not have the necessary know-how and we had to depend upon external technical help. Many young people have joined us without any training in oil exploration. They are being trained. I understand that we are going to have a regular training school as well. We have received help from all quarters. We have some highly qualified technicians from Russia and other countries. I have heard of them, in fact, I have met them personally and have seen you all working with them in close cooperation. I have seen all this and find that Mr Ghosh and others in the Commission and the foreign experts are full of enthusiasm and are quite competent to do their jobs.
I hope that all of us will succeed in our endeavour. We are thankful to our friends, who have come from Russia and other countries for their help. I wish their cooperation with us would continue.
This is part of ThePrint’s Great Speeches series. It features speeches and debates that shaped modern India.