For India to become global knowledge hub, institutes of learning need to be comparable: Kovind

5th Convocation of IIM Jammu

STATE TIMES NEWS

JAMMU: Asserting that the National Education Policy seeks to position India as a “knowledge hub”, President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday said that for India to become so, the country’s institutes of learning need to be globally comparable.
Laying focus on start-ups, Kovind said that several of them in the country have become successful with the convergence of technologies and opportunities and are being described as the emerging mainstay of the Indian economy.
“The National Education Policy seeks to position India as a knowledge hub in today’s knowledge economy. It seeks to make our youth equipped for the world of the 21st century while preserving our ancient values which remain relevant even today,” Kovind said in his address at the fifth convocation of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Jammu.
The President also inaugurated a diversity cell at the institute.
“For India to become a global knowledge hub, our institutes of learning have to be globally comparable.
“I am happy to note that the number of Indian institutions in the global ranking is gradually increasing. I expect new institutions like IIM Jammu to quickly adopt global best practices and aspire for higher ranking,” he added.
Kovind also noted that India’s ranking in global innovation index had improved from 76 in 2014 to 46 in 2021.
“Innovation and entrepreneurship strengthen each other,” he said.
On a successful start-up ecosystem in the country, the President said, “Unicorns, which are start-up enterprises with market valuation of one billion dollars and above, are proving to be game changers. These unicorns, most of which are set up by young people, must be a source of inspiration for you all.”
The mindset of being a job-giver and not a job-seeker among the youth of India is one of the key factors in our country having one of the best start-up ecosystems in the world, he added. He hailed the collaboration of IIM Jammu with Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Confederation of Indian Industry, which he said “is going to set up a special diversity cell for helping potential entrepreneurs from scheduled castes and scheduled tribes”.
“I am told that this is going to be the first centre of its kind among the IIMs,” he said.
Kovind also expressed happiness over the cooperation among the Jammu-based IIM, Indian Institute of Technology and All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
“I am happy that these three institutes are integrating and offering courses in which students from one institute can get access to the other. This integration of courses and institutes is in line with the objectives of the National Education Policy-2020,” he said.
The President also urged the IIM and other institutes in Jammu and Kashmir to adopt towns and villages and channelise the potential of the people in the union territory for bigger goals.
To the passouts, Kovind said education and knowledge remove ignorance and set the mind and soul free.
Only that learning which liberates the learner is real learning, he added.
Asserting that the role of fast-paced technological changes is going to be disruptive, Kovind told the students, “The shelf life of technologies is getting shorter. Therefore, the shelf life of management and leadership styles is also going to be shorter. To deal with such a scenario, you have to move from the mindset of utilising the known’ to the approach of exploring the unknown’,” he said.
While President Ramnath Kovind was the Chief Guest on the occasion, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Govt of India, and Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor, Union territory of J&K were the Guests of Honour.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), and Ravi Kumar Narra, President, Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) were the special guests on the occasion.
The Convocation was declared open by Dr. Milind. P. Kamble, Chairman, BoG, IIM Jammu, who also delivered the welcome address while Prof. B.S. Sahay, Director IIM Jammu presented the Directors’ Report.
As many as 214 students were conferred with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree. On this meritorious occasion, the Institute confers the Chairman’s Gold Medal, Director’s Silver medal, and Chairperson MBA’s Bronze Medal for their scholastic performance.
Sonali of the Batch 2020-22 was awarded the Gold medal, Shraddha Shukla received the Silver medal, and Raafeeq Dawara got the Bronze medal.
President Ram Nath Kovind presented the medals to the students.
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) awarded the ICSI signature award to Sonali, the top rank holder in the MBA programme.
The President also inaugurated the diversity cell at IIM Jammu for the SC/ ST Community in the IIM Incubation Center with the support of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DICCI).
The Diversity Cell aims to promote entrepreneurship in this segment of society for their economic and social upliftment.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State encouraged the graduating MBA batch to actively participate in taking India to the next pedestal.
Dr Jitendra also emphasized that the establishment of IIM Jammu happened during the commencement of two important events: NEP 2020 and Start-Up India. He stressed the growing importance of start-ups, especially in the agricultural, dairy industries and agritech.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha congratulated the graduating students, remarking that learning shouldn’t be confined to books and courses but should also be used in the real world. He also proposed to make Jammu and Kashmir ‘Aatmanirbhar’ in the upcoming years and stressed the need for interdisciplinary and holistic education, which is the main motto of NEP2020.
Dr. Milind P. Kamble, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIM Jammu gave an overview of the Institute and mentioned that IIM Jammu provides a conducive environment for nurturing talent, excellence, and innovation. He reminded everyone of the importance of adaptability and preparedness in this new era and wished success to future corporate leaders.
Prof. B. S Sahay, Director, IIM Jammu presented highlights of IIM Jammu in the past one year where he spoke about the progress of the Institute in the form of research publications, academics, infrastructure development, and setting up of the new state of the art campus at Jagti which is nearing completion.
He gave an insight into the programmes currently offered by IIM Jammu and mentioned the various MoUs that have been signed between IIM Jammu and various institutions, both nationally and internationally. He mentioned that was an increase of 33% in average salary with the highest salary of 32 LPA. He congratulated the graduating students and wished them good luck in their future endeavors.
The event was attended by all the Chairpersons, faculty members, staff members, graduate students, their family members, and media personnel. A live webcast of the event was done through National Informatics Centre (NIC). The link was https://webcast.gov.in/moe/iimj.
Dr. Milind Kamble declared the Convocation closed and the event concluded with the National Anthem.