Imphal: President Pranab Mukherejee on Tuesday made an impassioned appeal to youths of Manipur to create an atmosphere free from violence in the state and assured them government both at the Centre and in the state are determined and duty-bound to ensure that Manipuris live rpt live with dignity.
Referring to recent attacks against youths from North East in Delhi, the President said “it was unfortunate that the capital city of Delhi had sometime witnessed certain tragic incidents of attacks on young people from the North East. “We must ensure that the pluralistic character of our nation and India’s unity, which is the collective pride of all Indians, are not weakened by such unfortunate events,” Mukherjee said.
He also said youths have a greater role to play in ensuring peace in Manipur. “My appeal to the youth of Manipur is, therefore, let the dark days of violence and conflict be left behind. Let a new dawn emerge. Let us move ahead with fate in our collective future,” the President said addressing the 14th convocation of Manipur University here.
Observing that no problem is ever resolved by violence, the President said it only aggravates the pain and the hurt on every side. “I call upon the youths of Manipur to join hands with the youth of rest of the country in forging the future of our nation,” he said.
Mukherjee said India is today a nation on the move and every field of activity — be it business, industry, education or culture, its billion-plus people are marching vigorously forward led by the ideas, enterprise and energy of its predominantly young population.
“Emerging India offers enormous opportunities for the youth of Manipur…let me assure you that the government of India and the state government of Manipur are duty-bound to ensure that every Manipuri leaves with dignity and have equal rights and opportunities. “It is for this reason that several major development and infrastructure projects are being taken up in the state,” he said.
Talking about recent attacks on North Easts students, he expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by the Centre and the Delhi government to curb such incidents. “I am happy that both the central government and Delhi government have taken firm action by not only apprehending and punishing the accused but also putting in place measures to ensure that such incidents do no recur,” he said.
Congratulating the people of the state for successful and peaceful conduct of the elections, Mukherjhee said “let us celebrate the fact that the India is a large democracy in the world”
The President noted that elections to the 16th Lok Sabha are underway and the people of the country and people of Manipur turned out in record numbers to cast their votes.
The President said if India has to be one of the front ranking nations in the world, the way ahead is only through a robust education system. Education has afforded them the ability to overcome resource constraints and build an economy on a high technological base, he added.
Noting that higher educational institutes lack quality to produce quality graduates, he said he has been discussing this issue in the annual conference of Vice Chancellors of central universities and the fact is that not a single Indian university figures in the list of top 200 universities in the world.
“I am happy to find that our institutions have started to accord due seriousness to the rankings process. In September last year, the Finance module of IIM, Calcutta, was adjudged by a reputed agency as the best amongst business schools offering the Master of Management programme. “In the World University Ranking done subject-wise by another reputed agency, two IITs – Madras and Bombay – are amongst the top 50 institutions in civil engineering, while IITs – Delhi and Bombay – are in the top 50 in electrical engineering. I want our institutions to build on these micro-level successes and achieve a much higher overall ranking,” he said.
Mukherjee said talented faculty from abroad have to be hired to inject new thinking and diversity in academic approach and governance structures have to promote faster and transparent decision-making.
“The research neglect in our universities has also to be reversed. We have to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach in our academic system as most research activity requires the meeting of minds from diverse disciplines. “We have to concentrate on the unique features of the region in which a university is located. Manipur University can prioritize its research expertise keeping in mind that this state is a bio-diversity hotspot,” he said. (PTI)