Stating that one of the main objectives of his ministry is to ensure Indian talent remains within the country, Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar Friday announced that the Higher Education Financial Agency was approved Thursday and Rs 2,000 crore has been allocated for it. “We will leverage this money and convert it to Rs 20,000 crore. We are starting the Prime Minister scholarship soon. We realised students go abroad because they get good scholarships and research infrastructure. We will provide international standards laboratories, faculty to our students seeking higher education and research prospects,” said Javadekar. He was speaking at the 110th convocation ceremony of the Savitribai Phule Pune University on Friday. “We will give them opportunity to go abroad for a year and learn but they must come back. Their patents must remain in India. And I invite all of you to be a part of it,” he told students at the ceremony. Watch What Else Is Making News: Javadekar said 600 faculties from across the globe will visit India this year. He inaugurated the National Academic Depository (NAD). “The online depository will help students access degrees from anywhere in the world. All stakeholders will be able to access them,” he said. He expressed pride in the fact that two-thirds of the degree holders at SPPU were women. In a video-interaction with students across 700 colleges prior to the ceremony, Javadekar spoke about moving towards a less cash economy.
