President meets heads of central universities and advocates cross-category collaboration
Rashtrapati Bhavan, on December 14, hosted 46 Heads of Central Universities and Institutes of Higher Learning. The meeting presided over by the President Ram Nath Kovind saw presentation from various sub-groups on various issues related to higher education such as research collaboration, filling up vacancies, and alumni endowment.
Speaking at the concluding session, the President Ram Nath Kovind, said that India has set itself for sustainable development as it strives to eliminate poverty and become a middle-income country. Each of these institutes will be instrumental to the realisation of our socio-economic goals.
He said that the Central Agricultural Universities can support our national goal of promoting sustainable agriculture, productivity and supporting our farmers with useful research. The same is true of all other institutes linked to different areas be it pharmaceutical, aviation, oceanography, petroleum and energy, IT, Design, Architecture and others.
These institutes, the President said, have the mandate to lead research, to provide skilled talent, to spur innovation and to set an agenda for sustainable and climate-friendly development.
He advised the institutes to set up systems that can scout for and support cross-category collaborations.
"While developing your specialisations, I would urge you to collaborate and learn from each other. This is possible for institutes in the same field. It is also possible across categories. For example, advances in Information Technology can aid Architects and town planners to design Smart Cities that minimise use of energy," he said.
He also emphasized on the importance of institute leaders to act as mentors for the next generation of academic-administrators.
This would ensure that we have a ready talent pool of directors, deans and administrators who can conceive, establish and administer our institutes of higher education, he said.
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