Stop ragging,President tells student community

“Practices like ragging and harassing should find no place in educational institutions. I earnestly request institutions and students to stop forthwith ragging which is one of the most disgraceful practices,” she told a gathering of students and academicians.

She also rued the decline of research capacity in the country,and underlined that encouraging innovation potential of today’s students was the key to make sure that technological advances do not hit roadblocks in the long run.

Noting that prosperous nations are predicated on educated and well-informed populations,the President said for India to milk to the maximum extent its unique demographic advantage,it will have to tap the innovation potential of its students.

“A sound base of research in India had led to the green and white revolutions which brought far-reaching changes,” she said while asking scientists and researchers to look at bringing in new revolutions for enhancing productivity on a sustainable basis.

“Unfortunately,there has been a decline in our research capacity,” she said and asked educational institutions to rise to the need to bridge the deficit.

Dressed in a red robe,the President also gave away doctorate degrees to 30 students and gold medals to 11 students of the University in the presence of Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj and Vice Chancellor K Ramnarayan.

She said India,with a huge chunk of youth population has a unique demographic advantage,but the energy of the youth has to be guided into productive work and their ideas and innovations tapped for the betterment of society.

Technology carries the immense power to bring about revolutionary changes,she said,while invoking Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who had laid great emphasis on science while embarking on his roadmap of building a new nation.

The President also said science and technology needs to be used to bring about changes at grassroot levels in the country. “Teaching basic science with practical applications to change the landscape of our villages and towns should be looked at seriously by our education system,” she said.

Patil said India has made significant strides in the fields of electronics,communications and computer technology and to maintain a leadership role in the knowledge economy,it has to focus on innovation and on remaining competitive.

“Given our impressive performance during the last decade,and our resilience during the global economic downturn,we can look forward to achieving double digit growth rates. However,we have to address many constraints and remove many roadblocks on the growth trajectory,” she said.

She highlighted the inadequacy of the country’s existing physical infrastructure,underlining that for removing development bottlenecks,more bridges,roads and harbours have to be built while power generation capacity and transport facilities require extensive additions.

“This means that the nation needs a large corps of well-trained engineers and technologists,” she said,while also highlighting the need for value education and for students to reach out to local communities to understand their issues.

While referring to practices like ragging that should be banished for educational campuses,she also raised concern over drug consumption among students,saying awareness campaigns should make children abreast of the consequences of such ill-habits.

The President also underlined the importance of teaching students the concepts of co-existence,tolerance,harmony and the spirit of working together for the collective good.

She said while on their intellectual pursuits students must also learn to listen to others’ points of view and to have respect for differing perceptions.