“There was a time in India when we used to consider knowledge as the most important thing. But nowadays what matters most is qualification,” Gandhi said at a farmers’ conference in New Delhi.

He cited an example from his constituency Amethi where some farmers had said that a certain project was not feasible which later turned out to be true after a survey was carried out.

“The knowledge is still there. But it is not respected.

If some World Bank expert is behind it then we respect it as there are some big names are behind it,” he said.

Observing that knowledge is dynamic, he said it is constantly changing while qualifications are static, he said.

Reiterating the need to understand ground realities, the Gandhi family scion said, “if you are closer to people only then you are more answerable to them”.

The young MP from Amethi was speaking at a conference where farmers listed their ground-level problems and asked for strengthening of Panchayati Raj institutions so that welfare policies can trickle down to villagers.