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Kharagpur (West Bengal): Expressing concern that no Indian university featured among
the top 200 global institutions, President Pranab Mukherjee
Saturday urged the country's premier educational institutes to
step up efforts to join the league of the best.
"I must convey my sense of dismay on seeing a recent report that
not a single Indian university, including the premier Indian
Institutes of Technologies (IITs), featuring in the 200 top-rated
universities in the world," said Mukherjee in his address at the
58th annual convocation of IIT-Kharagpur.
"You may question the report but for me the important question is
why are we - a rising economic superpower - not able to promote
our standards to be rated indisputably among the top 10 or even
top 50 or 100," he said.
The president, accompanied by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh -
an alumni of IIT Kharagpur, took part in a function marking the
culmination of the institution's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
However, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was
conspicuous by her absence. She later took part in a protest rally
in the city demanding rollback of hike in diesel prices and FDI in
retail.
Welcoming IIT-Kharagpur's 'Vision 2020' - to be in top 20 global
education institutes by the year 2020, Mukherjee urged other
premier Indian educational institutes to follow suit.
"To realise our true potential it is necessary to start now with
the urgent task of developing in our students a scientific
temperament. It is necessary to design and develop, without delay,
advance technology at competitive cost which would be a boon for
our industry, trade and commercial sectors," he said.
Stressing on the need for adaptation and application of new
technology to Indian conditions and requirement, Mukherjee said
the same would open up new market opportunities and these must be
made "an integral part of the courses that our students attend".
He strongly recommended "more collaborations, exchanges and
cross-pollination of ideas with the best minds in India and
abroad" and asked the IITs to take the lead in ensuring
"continuous revitalisation of institutions through research,
experimentation and innovation".
Describing the younger generation as "critical to the development
of the society and nation", the president urged them to "learn
more, explore and contribute more".
"I would expect you to channelise your creative energy to
contribute in an exceptional and significant way towards the
nation's goal of achieving intrinsic growth and sustainable
development of all strata of the society," was Mukherjee's appeal
to the passing out batch.
Mukherjee also praised the IIT Kharagpur for its initiatives of
establishing new postgraduate programmes in Energy Engineering,
Nano Science and Technology, as well as setting up a School of
Bioscience and a School of Environmental Science.
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