Need to redefine moral values to stop crime against women:Prez

LUCKNOW, May 10: Underscoring the need to arrest the moral decline in society as reflected in rising cases of crime against women and children, President Pranab Mukherjee today said universities can help by redefining moral values through education.
Speaking at a convocation at the Babsaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University here, Mukherjee said, “The rising incidents of crime against women and children call for effective measures to ensure their safety and security.
“It also calls for arresting the moral decline in our society. We must find solutions for bringing such degradation of values to an immediate halt.”
Noting that education is a crucial element for national progress, human empowerment and social change, the President said, “Our universities, that possess the capability to shape the minds of the youth, should set the process of redefining our moral values in motion.
“These temples of higher learning must act as guides in meeting the contemporary moral challenges and ensure that our civilisational values of compassion for all are fully entrenched in the minds of our youth.”
Mukherjee conferred a posthumous doctorate degree (honoris causa) to Late Justice J S Verma, who headed a committee that gave recommendations for a strong anti-rape law.
Mukherjee emphasised on the need for bringing several far-reaching changes in the education system.
“We continue to be challenged by problems of quantity and quality. The number of quality academic institutions in India is inadequate, due to which many meritorious students go abroad for higher studies. It would be our undoing if we cannot draw our students to seek higher education in their own country,” Mukherjee said.
He pointed out that there were more than two lakh Indian students studying abroad, including in the US and UK.
Mukherjee’s suggestion that universities should establish an Innovators Club to facilitate interaction between teaching and student communities and grassroots innovators was implemented by the Ambedkar university.
Mukherjee inaugurated the first such Innovators Club in any university in the country here.
The President lamented that there is a shortage of faculty in Indian universities and these remain vacant for long.
“It is a worrying sign that many faculty positions in universities are vacant. In central universities alone, vacancy is about 36 per cent.
“The existing shortage of teachers could negate our efforts at quality enhancement. Immediate steps should be taken to fill up the vacancies,” he said.
Mukherjee said central universities play a leading role in the education sector as every state except one has at least one central university.
Underlining the need for improving quality of higher learning, Mukherjee said every university should identify one department that can be developed into a ‘Centre of Excellence’.
Noting that working age population of the country is expected to be more than 64 per cent by 2021, the President said our education system should play an enabling role to transform this demographic expansion into a national asset.
He emphasised on further enhancing the facilities provided for education delivery through use of technology.
Mukherjee said China and US are at the forefront of innovation with over five lakh patent applications each, filed in 2011. “India, with only 42,000 patent applications, lags behind these leaders,” he said.
Before Mukherjee’s address, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav promised the university that the state government would be there to support it whenever needed.
Union HRD Minister Jitin Prasada, who also addressed the gathering, said research work done in universities should meet global standards and education should help students get employment.
Former Chief Minister Narain Dutt Tiwari, who was CM when the university’s foundation was laid by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1989, was also present on the occasion. (PTI)

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