The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu inaugurated Visitor’s Conference 2023 at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (July 10, 2023).

In her inaugural address, the President said that education is vital for the progress of the individual, society and country. For most of the youth, higher education is the most effective way to come out from the adverse situations. She stated that providing equitable and inclusive higher education to youth coming from socially and economically disadvantaged groups is one of the priorities of the National Education Policy- 2020.

The President said that countries would be able to become Global Super-powers with the power of knowledge. She stated that the aim of the NEP is to make India a Global Knowledge Super-power. She expressed confidence that the higher educational institutions will play an important role in achieving the goal of establishing India as a developed nation by the year 2047. She was happy to note that the Union Ministry of Education, in coordination with all stakeholders, is making continuous efforts in this direction.

The President said that according to NEP, it is the effective governance and leadership that enables the creation of a culture of excellence and innovation in higher education institutions. The common feature of all world-class institutions has been the existence of strong self-governance and outstanding merit-based appointments of institutional leaders.

The President said that knowledge centres should become hubs of the knowledge economy. They should move forward with the ambition of developing cutting edge technologies. She added that our Technology Institutes have to take initiative in areas like artificial intelligence.

Pointing to the incident of suicide by a 20 year old student in IIT Delhi this Saturday, the President said that such tragic incidents of suicide have happened in many other educational institutions. This is a matter of concern for all in the field of education. She emphasized that it should be the priority of the educational institutions to protect and support their students against stress, humiliation or neglect in their campuses. She said that just as the sensible and responsive head of a family, all the heads, teachers and staff of institutions should be sensitive to the needs of the students. ‘You are the guide as well as parent of the students’, she stressed. She added that it should be endeavour of heads of institutions, teachers and staff to provide students with a safe and sensitive environment like their homes.

The President pointed out that our daughters perform better when given the opportunity. She noted that the participation of girls in technology institutions is also increasing. She said that efforts must be made to promote the presence and excellence of female students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

It is a fact, the President said, that the higher educational institutions that create new knowledge through quality researches continue to be globally renowned. In such educational institutions, many Nobel Laureates provide guidance to research scholars. Our collective effort to position India as a knowledge-power is progressing in such a global context. On the strength of dedication, confidence and hard-work, we can achieve the national goals of higher education. She said that the leaders of educational institutions have a major responsibility in transforming India into a knowledge super-power.

The President said that the younger generation see their role models in their teachers and successful personalities. The ideals and examples set by them through their conduct are very important. She stressed that the character-building of youth should be given priority in higher-learning institutions. Morally strong youth, educated in modern knowledge-science and technology, would build a better society and nation.

Earlier in the day, the President presented the Visitor’s Awards 2021. The Visitor’s Award for ‘Innovation’ was conferred on Prof. Venktesh Singh from the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Central University of South Bihar for developing indigenous Charge Pick-up Panels for Resistive Plate Chamber Detector using Silicon Fiber Sheet.  The Visitor’s Award for ‘Research in Physical Sciences’ was presented to Prof. Surajit Dhara from the School of Physics, University of Hyderabad for his work in soft matter and liquid crystals. Prof. Mohammed Latif Khan from Dr Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar received the Visitor’s Award for ‘Research in Biological Sciences’ for his contributions in understanding of forest biodiversity, regeneration of RET (Rare, Endangered and Threatened) plant species and threat status assessments of forests in the Eastern Himalayas and Central India.  The Visitor’s Award for ‘Technology Development’ was conferred on Prof. KC James Raju from the School of Physics, University of Hyderabad for his contributions in frequency tunable microwave devices using ferroelectric thin films.  The President also presented the Visitor’s Award, 2020 for ‘Research in Physical Sciences’ to Prof. Anunay Samanta, School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad for his research contributions to the spectroscopy and dynamics of short-lived chemical species formed on photo-excitation of molecular systems and materials.

Click here to see President speech in Hindi

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