NEW DELHI: Putting his weight behind “academic freedom”, President Pranab Mukherjee today said windows for free flow of thoughts should not be shut and an atmosphere should be created where “cross-fertilisation” of ideas can take place.
Highlighting the need for improving the status of higher education in the country, the President said more emphasis should be laid on “innovation and research” and teachers and academicians should be given their due recognition.
While receiving the first copy of a book titled ‘The Education President’ from Vice President Hamid Ansari, Mukherjee said continuous flow of funds and recognition by various authorities and favourable interventions by them are required to achieve better results in this regard.
“We should be providing academic freedom….Creating an atmosphere for cross-fertilisation of ideas from different parts…Come and flow uninterruptedly.
“You can hold on your ground, no harm, but don’t shut the windows as Gandhiji said ‘I refuse to be blown off but I will not think of shutting the windows, let the free flow of window blow across my room so that I can enrich myself’,” he said after receiving the book.
The book has been brought out by O P Jindal Global University, by largely basing its contents on Mukherjee’s activities on the subject after he took over the office of the first citizen of the country in 2012.
Mukherjee said he would be “frank” to admit that he learnt a number of things after taking over the President’s office and being a ‘visitor’ to a number of higher learning institutions of the country by virtue of the post he held.
The President added Indian talent was getting “wasted” as brilliant minds from premier institutions like IITs were working for global concerns and not here.
“This talent must be better utilised than promoting products of big MNCs (Multi-National Companies),” he said, adding that massive investments have to be made in research and development activities in order to make a “knowledge society”.
The President said India was “losing” every year about 2,000 students who go abroad.
Mukherjee said he had been “repeating like a parrot” about his deep concerns over the lack of quality education in our institutes of higher learning since he began interacting after becoming the President.(Agencies)
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