Addressing the Commission Members on 27th December, 2003
Venkatsubramaniam ji, Chairman, UGC Sri Nigavekarji, Secretary, Education, MHRD Sri Tripathi ji, Members of the UGC, and the officers of the UGC & the distinguished members of the Press.
It is a matter of great pleasure that we have assembled here in the UGC office to participate in its Golden Jubilee Celebrations. I feel that the occasions like this strengthen the relations between the Ministry and the UGC. Although, UGC's mandate is to maintain the standards of higher education, I think presently the word Grants in the name of the University Grants Commission reflects only its grants giving character. Perhaps after some time people will address and refer to the UGC in terms of Development, because soon enough its name will be changed.
There is little doubt that in the 21st Century we are moving towards becoming a knowledgeable society, or, Knowledge-Society as we call and know in English. In the past, our country always accorded due importance to knowledge. We have always endeavoured to see the birth and growth of more and more knowledgeable people in our society. With the close ties between knowledge and science, India did develop once an advanced educational system. I recall that, in the field of higher education too we once had universities like Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramshila. These were truly international universities. We find none to match their international character even to this day. The ones that are called international today belong to those nations that dominate global affairs. Such international universities flourished in India in the past when we were not considered as a powerful country. We achieved this goal only because then India was a hub of growth and extension of knowledge. We have historical records to show that we are the first nation in the world to organize international workshops. The first ever Seminar was organized on Ayurveda in the early 5th / 6th century B.C. In Taxila and Nalanda a scholar or a learned person paid visit to these learned places almost on a daily basis. The number of students in these universities ran into thousands. They were all residential universities where both teachers and the students stayed together on the campus. One cannot even imagine building a university like that today. No nation however affluent could possibly afford to build such huge residential universities today. But that we could do so only goes to show our devotion to higher education.
We cannot compartmentalize education in bits and pieces by separating primary education from middle level or higher education. It is indivisible both by nature and content. But the end products of the system can be given a finishing touch only by higher education whose quality can be adjudged and assessed at international levels, which would again be institution specific.
The University Grants Commission is now an adult institution having reached the mature age of 50. It now has experience, a group of experts and a team of able officers. I wish on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee that a pledge is taken to see that in the ensuing couple of years we shall be able to get our graduates accorded the same esteem that our IT graduates enjoy the world over today. But this should happen with one difference. The IT-ians work in service sector only, but from now on the human resource that we produce shall have a distinguished entity in the knowledge-sector. The current slogan in the world is from market to super-market. I wish at least in India this slogan should stand modified from Mind to Super-mind. The duty of the UGC shall be to discharge this obligation of making the journey from Mind to Super-Mind easy, possible and achievable and in the coming years make our country a leader in the world.
Vekatasubramaniam, (Member, Planning Commission) called this day a red-letter day for the simple reason that this name happens to have been written in red ink. It may be a coincidence but this is an indicator that the UGC has lot of expectations from the Planning Commission. I am confident that Planning Commission shall not belie the confidence that the UGC reposes in it. The former shall not only measure up to the latter's expectations but it shall meet all their requirements and provide necessary guidance. Venkatsubramaniam has been the first Vice Chancellor of Pondicherry University and has experience of working with numerous government departments in his parent State - Tamil Nadu and earlier on he had demonstrated uncommon brilliance as a student. He moves like an arrow and you must have noticed that he could say all that he wished to say in only few words. With his cooperation and the efforts of the UGC the van of higher education will accelerate at a very high pace. I know that no matter how much I push down the accelerator it cannot push me forward unless it happens to have petrol. Therefore, I am confident that Venkatji will allow the van of higher education to run even faster than it is possible today.
With these words I congratulate the UGC for completing 50 years of its successful functioning. I wish it to complete its next 50 years with even greater glory than it has attained so far. I wish it to provide the nation with a proper direction and meet all societal expectations. Thanks!
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