BY:SAPARIA KEYUR AAEEO47

1 st May 1960, and with first ray of sunlight hitting the ground, Gujarat began a new era. This was to be an era of self confidence, of trend setting, of proving to the world, what Gujarat and Gujaratis have been known for ages. It was to prove to be a watershed in history of Gujarat. The preceding years had seen a visionary struggle – a struggle for statehood, a charm for smaller geographical units with potential of turning adversities into advantages. The “Maha Gujarat Andolan” as it was called was led by visionary leaders like Indulal Yagnik, Jivraj Mehta, Harihar Khambholja and Brahmakumar Bhatt. After a long struggle of four years, the Central Government agreed to the State of Gujarat and under the leadership of Shri Jivraj Mehta, first Government of Gujarat was sworn in on May 1 st, The oath of office was administered by Pt. Ravishankar Maharaj at the Gandhi Ashram and hence came into being a State called Gujarat with natural geographical formation looking like “Jaws of Lion”.

Since time immemorial, Gujarat and Gujaratis have been known for their leadership and entrepreneurial skills, for their risk taking abilities and for their desire to reach to distant territories seeking opportunities. Since the days of silk route to the trading ports at Lothal and Dholavira, Gujarati people have moved to different parts of the world and set their empires there. Be it to the mines of Africa or businesses of America or diamonds at Antwerp, Gujaratis have marked their stamp every where

Since the state hood, Gujarat has never looked back and achieved many milestones and has led the way for other states to emulate. The successes have come in many fields and through innovations - be it through two rounds of green revolutions to improve productivity in agriculture sector and make farmers and villages prosperous, through co-operatives and white revolution to empower women and provide a strong backbone to rural Gujarat, through inter linking of rivers and by taking waters of Narmada to every nook and corner of Gujarat and making every village self sufficient in their drinking water needs or by ensuring that every household in Gujarat gets 24 hour electricity supply.

It is not just in business and entrepreneurship that Gujarat has led the way. The land also gave birth to Mahatma Gandhi, apostle of non violence, who initiated a new lineage to the philosophy of social reform and political struggles world over through his weapon of “Non Violence”. The land also gave birth to leaders like Sardar Patel, Shyamji Kishan Verma, Morarji Desai, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Shri Tribhovandas, Dadabhai Naoroji, Dhirubhai Ambani, Poet Narmad, Sarla Tai, Javerchand Meghani and Thakkarbapa to name a few

The investment climate and industry friendly policies of Gujarat get affirmed when who’s who of business community from India joined with other investors from abroad on Jan th, 2009 during Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit at Ahmedabad and signed Memorandum of Understandings expressing their desire to invest over Rs. 12,00,000 Crores ( US $240 Billion) through over 8500 projects. The state has through its proactive approach established itself as a leader in setting up Special Economic Zones and has moved one step ahead with its emphasis on developing Special Investment Regions

Every person of Gujarat can be partner in this vision of a “Golden Gujarat”. He can do so by contributing in which ever manner he likes. What is required is only one pledge – a pledge of determination with dedication. The pledge may be howsoever small, but as Hon’ble Chief Minister has succinctly put it, the “Sankalp” - pledges of 55 million Gujaratis may be howsoever small, but the collective strength of those pledges will propel Gujarat on a path of development which will be unparalleled and unprecedented

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