Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar has said that India is growing fast with a sound economy, infrastructure, global reputation and has provided a landscape for today’s youth with immense possibilities to develop themselves to be leaders of the future. Delivering his inaugural speech at the two-day Vice Chancellors Conference at Raj Bhavan, Ooty today, the Vice President said that leadership in science, research and development is quintessential to be on our strength to lead the trajectory path to a developed Nation. Appealing to the Industries, corporations and other commercial institutions, the Vice President said that they should liberally fund the research and development activities in the institutions and develop the innovative talents of the young. He wanted Universities to share the knowledge of the faculty between Institutions and improve the quality of higher education.

The Vice President said that research papers by students should have a global appeal so that they can highly benefit society and the world. He asked the institutions to reintegrate research with teaching and exploit the potential of the youth. He said that affordability and accessibility for quality education are the topmost priority of the Government. The Vice President said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has been emerging as a powerful Nation which stands for peace and growth for all.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi blamed the State Government for not allowing the Vice Chancellors of State Universities to participate in the Conference. He also criticised the education system in the State for poor quality. He said that the Ph.D students were doing menial jobs, and the educational situation was not very conducive for any improvement. In the meantime, protests were held in Chennai, Coimbatore and Ooty against Governor R. N. Ravi for organising the Conference.