Mysuru: President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday heralded the centenary celebrations of University of Mysore and that of an apex trade body later. The president is on a two-day visit to the southern state from Monday July 28.
The president addressed a huge gathering of students, faculty and invitees from the city at the amphitheatre in the varsity campus. In his presidential address he expressed dissatisfaction over the enrolment rate of 20 per cent in higher education, saying it is not enough to improve future prospects of the youth.
Inaugurating centenary celebrations of Mysore University, founded in 1916 under the patronage of ‘Rajarshi’ Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar with assistance of M Visvesvaraya, Mukherjee said, “Though India’s higher education is the second largest in the world, the enrolment rate at 20 per cent is not enough to improve future prospects of the youth and harnessing opportunities in an increasingly knowledge intensive world.” Mukherjee highlighted that many bright scholars go abroad for higher studies for want of good quality institutions in our country. The President said although government and private sector are making efforts to expand higher education but if an objective analysis of the state of higher education in the country is undertaken today, it is easy to suggest that there are only a handful of higher education institutions possessing the quality to produce graduates for the global market.
“Indian institutions are absent from the top 200 positions in world university rankings published by the reputed agencies,” he said.
The President said present day higher education institutions ought to apply dynamic learning models.
“They must deploy technology to efficiently disseminate academic material to greater number of students, engage resource persons through e-platforms, and establish linkages with research and other academic institutions,” he said.
Underlining poor scenario of research in universities, the President said there is unfortunately a general neglect of research.
“This must be reversed. Our country grapples with many socio-economic problems and answers to many of them have eluded us so far. We must identify areas that call for innovative solutions and facilitate our universities and institutions to undertake research programmes,” he said.
Governor Vajubhai Vala, who is also the varsity chancellor, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Higher Education Minister R.V. Deshpande, and Revenue Minister V. Srinivas Prasad were present on the occasion.
“Vice Chancellor K.S. Rangappa feted Mukherjee with a specially-designed HMT watch and a bust of Mysore king Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodiyar in sandalwood to mark the year-long occasion,” the official said.
Flying into Bengaluru under a cloudy sky in the evening, Mukherjee unveiled the centenary celebrations of the Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) at Vidhana Sudha in the city centre.
“In view of the President’s visit to the secretariat, and tight security, the state government declared half-day holiday post-noon to its employees working in Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha,” the official said.
On Tuesday, the President is slated to fly to Bidar and participate in the second annual convocation of the Central University of Karnataka at Kalaburgi, and returning to the state capital, dedicate to the nation the renovated heritage building and magneto encephalography research centre of the state-run National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans) in the city before flying back to Delhi on the same evening.
Earlier he arrived from New Delhi in an air force jet and visited historical Chamundeshwari temple, located on Chamunda Hills, overlooking the Mysore city. Dressed in traditional dhoti and angavastram, Mukherjee — devotee of Shakti — offered prayers.
President’s Temple Visit:
Earlier at Airport:
