Knowledge shows you the path forward — but sanskar (moral values) is what steers you in the right direction. That was the central message Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami delivered on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, as the chief guest at the Sanskar Diwas and Foundation Day celebrations of The Tossbridge School in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

Addressing students, faculty, parents and school administrators, CM Dhami declared that education's true purpose is not merely to produce academically or professionally successful individuals — it is to shape good human beings. 'Character, discipline, honesty and ethical values hold special importance in life,' he said, underscoring a theme that has gained renewed traction since the rollout of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The school APJ Abdul Kalam inaugurated in 2015

CM Dhami opened a striking historical footnote: The Tossbridge School was inaugurated in 2015 by India's former President and celebrated scientist, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The Chief Minister invoked Kalam's life as a living lesson — that dreaming big is necessary, but so is relentless effort and iron resolve to realise those dreams.

He urged every student in the auditorium to read Kalam's autobiography 'Wings of Fire (Agni Ki Udaan)', calling it a roadmap for setting goals and confronting adversity. 'His life experiences will inspire students to define their targets and face their challenges,' Dhami said.

Blending Modi's tech push with India's cultural roots

The Chief Minister situated the school's ethos within a larger national narrative, pointing to the rapid strides India is making in technology, innovation and modern science under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The future, he said, belongs to new technologies, skills and creativity — but that future will ring hollow without its moral scaffolding.

Students, he argued, must master modern subjects while weaving yoga, meditation, discipline and sanskar into the fabric of their daily lives. 'The convergence of modern knowledge and Indian life values is what will truly strengthen a student's personality,' he said. The sentiment directly echoes the NEP's stated goal of shifting Indian schooling from rote memorisation towards holistic, value-based and skill-oriented learning.

Transparent hiring, anti-cheating law, and 35,000 government jobs

Dhami used the platform to highlight his government's record on youth employment and examination integrity. He cited a strict anti-cheating law enacted to curb malpractice in competitive examinations, and stated that through a transparent recruitment system, the state government has provided government jobs to more than 35,000 young people over the past five years.

The back-to-back announcements — cultural values in classrooms and clean hiring pipelines outside them — reflect a deliberate policy pairing: build character inside the school gates and guarantee a fair shot beyond them.

Uttarakhand's 'non-negotiable resolve' to be India's best state

Closing his address, Dhami reiterated the state government's 'vikalp rahit sankalp' — a 'resolve without alternatives' — to make Uttarakhand the country's finest state. Educated, value-grounded, skilled and self-reliant youth, he said, are the engine of that ambition. The government's goal goes beyond helping young people find employment; it aims to encourage entrepreneurship and self-employment so that Uttarakhand's youth become job creators, not just job seekers, contributing to both the state's and the nation's economic progress.

If Kalam once told a young India to dare to dream, Dhami's Dehradun address asked that same India to dream with discipline — and deliver.