Dear students and faculty members, it gives me
great pleasure to take part in this joyous occasion and inaugurate the Diamond
Jubilee celebrations of IIT Delhi. Sixty years is an important milestone in
an institute’s history. I congratulate the present and the past faculty,
students and staff on this momentous occasion. IIT Delhi has made rapid
strides in the last six decades and today is counted among the reputed
institutions in the world. It is also recognized by the
Government of India as an ‘Institution of Eminence’. It is heartening to
note that over half of India's Unicorns have come out of this single institute.
I am aware that IIT Delhi graduates are present across the world
and have made120 an impact in different spheres of life, be it as technocrats, researchers
and scientists or as writers and even as140 politicians. I am told that many IIT Delhi faculty members
have been winners of Padma awards, Fellows of national and160 international academies and winners of other notable
recognitions. The contribution of the faculty plays an important role in
shaping an institution and I must pay compliments to all the faculty members of
IIT Delhi. I am told that the institute is planning to file over 200
patents this year as against 153 patents filed in 2019. I am also happy
to note that IIT Delhi has emerged as a leader in the entrepreneurship space in
the country. It is good240 to note that institutions such as IIT Delhi are producing job
providers rather than job seekers and becoming trendsetters for other
institutions in the country. I have also been informed that IIT Delhi is
the first institution in the country280 to launch an endowment fund and the alumni of IIT Delhi are
following the motto of giving back to the country. That indeed reflects
the essence of India’s culture of sharing and caring. I feel that it
is the duty320 of every Indian, who achieved success, fame and wealth in
life, to give back to the society and the country. One should never forget
one’s native place and the motherland. We are interacting in the midst
of a pandemic that360 has disrupted every sphere of activity and impacted the world
economy. I am happy that the IITs across the country have taken up
several projects relating to COVID-19, including development of low-cost ventilators,
PPE kits, testing kits, sanitization, robots and other equipment, apart from Artificial
Intelligence studies on epidemic patterns and disease dynamics. While
finding answers to various challenges posed420 by COVID-19, we should be better prepared to tackle any future
pandemic. For that to happen, there should be greater collaboration
and synergy between experts from different domains. I would like IIT
Delhi and other institutions to look into this aspect. The research at IITs and
other higher education institutes must be relevant to society and focus
on finding solutions480 to various problems faced by mankind from climate change to health
issues. There is also a need to promote multidisciplinary research
and industry-academia linkage. The higher education institutions must not work
in silos and seek to connect with the industry. There should be a symbiotic
relationship between the two to take up cutting-edge technology. At the
same time, there should be greater investment in R & D projects
which focus on finding solutions to societal problems. I call upon the560 private sector, including the industry
bodies like CII and ASSOCHAM, to collaborate with the academia in identifying
such projects and fund them liberally. As a matter of fact, the industry
experts in various areas should act as mentors in guiding researchers. This600 type of collaboration will help in
fast-tracking projects and producing quicker results. I am told that
IIT Delhi is laying great emphasis on internationalization, interdisciplinary
research and industry connect. These steps are very important for our institutions
to improve their640 international standing and become visible to the industry and the
society by providing solutions to problems. As Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi has always maintained, while science is global, technologies are
local. Indian institutions will be counted among the world's best only
when they start impacting the societies around them by developing optimal
and sustainable solutions to the problems faced700 by the nation. This is a way forward for Indian institutions to be
counted among the world's best and for720 the nation to regain its rightful place as Vishwa Guru.
IITs must take the lead in this journey.
Dear sisters and brothers, India has had a long and illustrious history
of holistic education. The aim of education in ancient India was not just
the acquisition of knowledge but also of wisdom, complete realization and
liberation of the self. The ancient Indian education system had produced
great scholars. They made seminal contributions to the collective knowledge of
the world in diverse800 fields such as mathematics, astronomy, metallurgy, medical
science and surgery, civil engineering and architecture, shipbuilding and
navigation, yoga, fine arts and chess, among others. I am happy to note that
the new National Education Policy seeks to promote India as a840 global study destination providing premium
education at affordable costs, thereby helping to restore its role as a Vishwa
Guru. The move to facilitate selected universities from among the top 100
in the world to operate in India will help in promoting excellence in
education. The NEP also mentioned that internationalization of education will
be facilitated through both institutional collaborations, and
student and faculty mobility. The proposal to set up an Inter-University
Centre for international education in Indian universities will go a
long way in promoting international standards and institutional collaborations.
I am confident that NEP will create the necessary ecosystem in the
coming years for Indian Institutions to vastly improve global rankings. As
per the QS World University Ranking 2021, 960 only three Indian institutions figured in the top 200--Indian
Institute of Technology Bombay at 172nd position; Indian Institute980 of Science Bangalore at 185th spot and IIT Delhi at 193. Only eight
Indian institutes found a place in the top 500 of QS World University Ranking
2021. This situation has to change and there has to be a concerted and
collective action from all the stakeholders—governments, universities, educationists
and the private sector to bring about a radical improvement in the
standards and quality of education of our institutes of higher learning.
There is a huge potential for India to become a world leader in various
technological domains given the demographic advantage and the presence of highly
talented youth. The need1080 of the hour is to impart quality education, convert this vast pool of
educated manpower into highly skilled work force in tune with the
requirements of the digitally-driven, knowledge-based 21st century. In fact, we
have the capability to not1120 only meet the requirements in the country but many other
nations, particularly those with ageing populations. With more than 50 per cent
of our population still dependent on agriculture, it is important for IITs
to start major research programmes to boost the rural economy through
development of sustainable technologies. Before concluding, I would
like to congratulate IIT Delhi for completing 60 years of journey and for
the numerous contributions this institution has made for the national
development. IITs are the pride1200 of the nation and the country has huge expectations from these institutions
and looks up to them for science and technological leadership in the
years to come.
Dear sisters and brothers, during the last five years, India has made
considerable progress in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship. At
world level, we have moved up from 81st position in1260 2015 to 52nd position in 2019 in Global
Innovation Index ranking. It is indeed a matter of great satisfaction that1280 we have the 3rd largest start-up ecosystem in the world
today.
It is heartening to see that the Government has taken a number of
initiatives to inculcate the spirit of innovation among students from a young
age. Over 2 million students between grade 6th to 12th are working in
more than 5100 Atal Tinkering Labs established across the country under1260 the Atal Innovation Mission. Innovation
has always been the key defining feature of human progress. Inventions,
discoveries, creative art works, architectural marvels and experimentation in
different fields of human endeavour have enriched human lives. India
has its own illustrious history of innovations spanning at least twenty
centuries right from the invention of “zero” and the decimal system. There
was a1400 time when India was known as Vishwa Guru and students from far away
countries came to study at our universities. We must regain that intellectual
leadership. We must once again emerge as a global hub of learning and
innovation. We1440 have to tap into the highly talented youth population which is
brimming with new ideas, a passion for experimentation and willingness to forge
a new path. It is these young people studying in many of our colleges
and universities who will define what our country’s future will be. It
is these youths that need encouragement, facilitation and recognition. They
must be given the guidance and freedom to explore new frontiers. Our educational
institutions, especially institutions of higher education must reinvent
themselves to create these essential conditions for innovation to thrive, for
creativity to blossom. I am happy to note that the new National Education
Policy has a sharp focus on this aspect and has made a number of
recommendations that will foster innovation. It has outlined a new
vision that can vastly improve the quality of teaching and learning as
well as research. 1583
