Guv Solanki stresses on aggressive collaboration of varsities and industries

The Governor of Punjab and Haryana and UT Administrator, Kaptan Singh Solanki on Wednesday said that India’s growth story can never be accomplished in the current global scenario without focusing on knowledge and technology based engineering.The 21st century is the century of knowledge and technology-based economies. Hence, it is imperative that the Indian industry collaborates aggressively with institutes, universities and the Government bodies to initiate joint research and development (Research and Development) projects in various keys sectors, which are most critical in the next decade or two, said Solanki while addressing the Edu Summit organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in partnership with Indian School of Business (ISB) and Government of Haryana at ISB campus on Wednesday.

He said that it is most vital that industry invests heavily in research  and development  to find innovative ways in both services and manufacturing sectors. To make successful the ‘Make in India’ campaign, in its true spirit, our manufacturing has to be both cost and resource effective as well as environmentally sustainable, with least impact on climate.

To attain this, the only solution is active collaboration and partnerships of industry in the higher education and research and development projects with governments, universities, institutes, global community colleges and other education tools and service providers, said he.The Governor added that notwithstanding a network of more than 750 universities, over 45,000 colleges, our gross enrolment ratio in higher education is still at 19.4 per cent as compared to 84 per cent in United States, 59 per cent in United Kingdom, 55 per cent in Japan and 28 per cent in China. Hence, there is a need for both industry and Governments to invest in existing institutes, setting up new institutes and develop new knowledge clusters, added he.

Though 67 per cent of our population is young, yet our skilled workforce is below 10 per cent as compared to 95 per cent in South Korea and 80 per cent in Japan. There is a great need to bring about equivalence between degree and skills with a lot of technology and knowledge interventions. The social status for a skilled person also needs to be redefined, said the Governor.

“India has been at the forefront of spreading wisdom, virtues and moral values to the world. Hence it is also essential that, while focusing on technology, we do not neglect our moral values and spiritual strengths as well”, he added.