President Droupadi Murmu has said that as institutional leaders, Central Institutions of Higher Learning have a major responsibility in transforming India into a knowledge superpower. In her inaugural address at the visitors' conference in Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening, President Murmu said, nowadays there has been discussion about generative artificial intelligence. She said, the Technology Institutes should take initiative in such areas. Expressing concern, the President said, an analysis done by the Central Government in 2019, on the basis of data of two years, revealed that around 2500 students left their studies in IITs midway. She said, about half of those students came from the reserved classes. President Murmu stressed on the need to consider the problem of drop-outs very sensitively and find a solution. She said, suicide of students in educational institutions is a matter of concern for the entire education world. The President said, women's leadership can prove to be more effective in the field of higher education. She urged that Central Institutions of Higher Learning must pay attention to this aspect. President Murmu also stressed that Character-building of youth should be given priority in higher-educational institutions.
She said, education is vital for the progress of the individual, society, and country. For most of the youth, higher education is the most effective way to come out from adverse situations. The President stated that providing equitable and inclusive higher education to youth coming from socially and economically disadvantaged groups is one of the priorities of the National Education Policy NEP- 2020. She stated that the aim of the NEP is to make India a Global Knowledge Super-power. She expressed confidence that higher educational institutions will play an important role in achieving the goal of establishing India as a developed nation by the year 2047. The President said that our knowledge centres should become hubs of the knowledge economy.
The President of India is the Visitor of 162 Central Institutions of Higher Learning.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also addressed the conference.
Earlier in the day, the President presented the Visitor’s Awards 2021. The Visitor’s Award for ‘Innovation’ was conferred on Prof. Venkatesh Singh from the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Central University of South Bihar for developing indigenous Charge Pick-up Panels for Resistive Plate Chamber Detectors using Silicon Fiber Sheet. The Visitor’s Award for ‘Research in Physical Sciences’ was presented to Prof. Surajit Dhara from the School of Physics, University of Hyderabad for his work in soft matter and liquid crystals. Prof. Mohammed Latif Khan from Dr Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar received the Visitor’s Award for ‘Research in Biological Sciences’ for his contributions to understanding forest biodiversity, regeneration of Rare, Endangered and Threatened plant species and threat status assessments of forests in the Eastern Himalayas and Central India.
The Visitor’s Award for ‘Technology Development’ was conferred on Prof. KC James Raju from the School of Physics, University of Hyderabad for his contributions to frequency tunable microwave devices using ferroelectric thin films. The President also presented the Visitor’s Award, 2020 for ‘Research in Physical Sciences’ to Prof. Anunay Samanta, School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad for his research contributions to the spectroscopy and dynamics of short-lived chemical species formed on photo-excitation of molecular systems and materials.
