Shimla: Vice President Hamid Ansari arrived here today on a three-day visit, during which he will attend the convocation of Himachal Pradesh University.
The Vice President landed at the Annandale helipad from where he drove straight to the Raj Bhavan.
Ansari, an alumnus of St. Edward School here, later in the day visited the school and interacted with students. Going down the memory lane, he said that a poem in the school text book - "Playing the game that matters" - moulded his life and he always believed in playing the game earnestly and hard work.
Replying to the question of a student, Ansari defended the reservation in education and jobs, saying it was needed to bring the poor, backward and underprivileged people into the mainstream.
When his attention was drawn to the fact that about 59.6 per cent students were studying in private educational institutions, he said the central and state governments were unable to meet the increasing demand, following which the students are going to private institutions.
The Vice President also attributed the VVIP culture in the democratic setup to "certain peculiar situations that raised security concerns".
Replying to a question regarding delay in resolving differences with China, he said that the issues involved have many "complexities".
The Vice President will be the chief guest at the HPU convocation tomorrow. Besides 154 PhDs and 144 gold medals, Honorary Doctorate would be conferred on former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Dr K Radhakrishnan, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan, famous poet Gobind Vyas and veteran journalist Vepa Rao.
Himachal Pradesh's acting Governor Kalyan Singh, who is also the Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), would not be present at the convocation and has authorised the Vice Chancellor to confer the degrees.
The Vice President, who was accompanied by his wife Salma Ansari, was received at Annandale helipad by Irrigation and Public Health Minister Vidya Stokes and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dhani Ram Shandil and other senior officers of the state government.
At the Raj Bhawan, Ansari was received by Chief Secretary P Mitra, DGP Sanjay Kumar, Officer Commanding in Chief, Army Training Command (ARTRAC) Lt Gen Raman Dhawan, and Shimla Municipal Corporation Mayor Sanjay Chauhan among others.
