Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's speech at laying foundation stone of Swami Vivekananda Technical University

I am immensely happy to be present here today at the birth of a new center of light and knowledge for our country. Foundation stones are laid for a number of institutions, but none is as important as one for a center of learning, a center which symbolizes the hopes and aspirations of people to be freed from the shackles of ignorance and to achieve their desire for being full partners in progress. It brings with itself a journey of knowledge which, undertaken under the guidance of accomplished teachers, produces a treasure of wisdom for self and society.

This institution has already blessed itself by naming itself after a great son of India, Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda was a thinker, a humanist, a deeply religious person but a true liberal and modernist in his thinking. These are the qualities that a University must inculcate among its faculty and students. Of course, your's is a technical university and not a campus of all faculties. Yet, the values that inspired Swami Vivekananda must guide the intellectual and social life of this temple of learning.

Swami Vivekananda regarded modern science as a manifestation of the real religious spirit for it sought to understand truth by sincere effort. Pandit Nehru said that the highest ideals of our age are humanism and the scientific spirit. Though there may appear to be an apparent conflict between the two, the spirit of inquiry removes the old boundaries between these approaches, and between the world of science and the world of introspection. It is my fervent prayer that the Swami Vivekananda Technical University will live up to these expectations of our great national leaders, and bring about a quantum improvement in our understanding of the spirit of science, and the soul of humanism.

The State of Chhattisgarh has been blessed with immense mineral wealth by mother nature. This University will assist in the use of these natural resources for the good of common people. It will assist in maintaining ecological balance while providing a knowledge base for the recovery of natural resources. Chhattisgarh is also moving on the path of agricultural development with cereals, pulses and fruits and vegetable. This presents a very good opportunity for initiating food processing industries, for increasing employment opportunities, and the Swami Vivekanand Technical University will provide the necessary technological wherewithal for its development. It can also become a hub for creating trained manpower to assist farmers and processors in maximizing their productivity.

I say so, because I believe that science must serve the needs of our rural people, and that of the weaker sections. India lives in her villages, still largely dependant upon agriculture for their daily sustenance. Institutes of technology must keep rural India securely in focus in their programmes of technology development. I commend this vision to the future teachers, students and administrators of this University so that they ensure that their study and research focus on to improving the lives of our farmers and residents of rural India.

We are trying relentlessly to strengthen India's science and technology infrastructure. While we are increasing outlays in this sector, at the same time, we are committed to expanding the availability of higher and technical education in the country. While working to increase the expenditure on education to 6% of GDP, we will also ensure that the deserving students are not denied higher and technical education for want of resources. We are ensuring easy access to soft loans for meritorious students.

The setting up of the Swami Vivekanand Technical University will ensure the coordinated provision of technical education across Chhattisgarh, by taking under its wings all Engineering and Polytechnic colleges in the State. I am happy to know that the State has 14 Engineering colleges and 10 Government Polytechnic institutes, offering seven Post Graduate and 16 Graduate programmes of study. In addition to the mainstream branches of technology, these institutes address needs for bio-technology and instrumentation engineering. Considering the special needs of Chhattisgarh, these institutes provide Degrees in Metallurgy and in Mining Engineering also. I am also happy to know that the courses include agriculture technology and control of environmental pollution. The 6500 youngsters who graduate from these colleges and Polytechnics every year would undoubtedly form the backbone of the development of this state.

I would like to add a word of caution. It is imperative that we ensure that all these technical institutes are run to specified standards, and that we provide the best available knowledge to our students. It is not so much as a constraint of resources, but it is really a matter of attitude. Teachers and administrators must consider themselves as being in the service of the students, charged with a responsibility of equipping young minds with keys to open the frontiers of knowledge. It is in the success of pupils that the teachers and administrators must see their own success.

We live in a knowledge economy, and education is the real empowerment that we can give to our citizens to enhance their capabilities in building a new India. The world is beginning to recognise our capabilities in the knowledge economy, and this is in great part due to the contribution of our institutions of engineering and technology. You have, therefore, a challenge ahead of you of rising up to these expectations.

We need the human capabilities required for us to face the challenge of globalisation. On an average, more than 3,50,000 engineers and 5,000 Ph.D. scholars graduate from our Universities and Colleges every year. With such a vast pool of qualified, English-speaking scientific and technological manpower, we have the ambition of becoming a major base of research and development activity. We should be able to attract global investment into R&D activity at home. We are establishing a Knowledge Commission headed by a dynamic individual and staffed by committed youngsters, to exploit the latent potential of our knowledge network and leverage it to make India truly the 'Knowledge Engine' of the world. We aim to have the best Universities and R&D Laboratories in the world. We will aim to be the natural choice for all knowledge based activity - a role India has been known to play for centuries. Chhattisgarh must become a part of this story that is unfolding all over the country.

I invite Chhattisgarh to stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the country in the field of education. We cannot ignore the fact that there is today no modern, industrial economy in the world that does not have at least 80% rate of literacy. Within our own country we see a strong and positive correlation between the educational attainment of people and the overall economic development of the State. I do hope that the State Government here will pay the required attention to education and health and invest in building human capabilities.

Every human being can be transformed from being regarded a liability into being viewed as an asset if that person is socially, educationally and economically empowered. There is no greater investment we can make today than the investment in human capabilities. I hope and pray that the Swami Vivekananda Technical University will provide a platform to propel the State forward in the field of industrial development. I wish the people of Chhattisgarh well and wish them a great future of progress and prosperity. I wish all those associated with this institution all success in your great endeavours. I wish you all the best.

Jai Hind.