Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat appealed to the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) officials to assist the State in inculcating scientific temperament amongst the youth and guide them towards meaningful goals. He also raised deep concern over providing purified and portable water to the people across the State at affordable costs. The Chief Minister said this after inaugurating the Academic Block of School of Design Studies (SoDs) at UPES, Bidholi, Dehradun on Thursday.
Rawat said, “Despite putting efforts, we are lacking in creating scientific temperament among students. UPES officials should assist the state in creating a scientific temperament amongst the youth and guide them towards meaningful goals.”
Dwelling on the task of providing purified and portable water to the people of the State at affordable costs, Rawat said the Government spends crores each year for building infrastructure to provide potable water. But things are yet to be completed, he regretted. He requested the University chancellor Dr SJ Chopra to carry out some researches on this project.
After the inauguration, CM visited various laboratories where the students explained various aspects of design studies to him. To the delight of the students, the CM took keen interest in understanding myriad aspects of design studies and asked some basic questions which the students readily and enthusiastically answered. Programme head Dr Atul Kedia briefed him on the programmes being offered by School of Design at undergraduate and post graduate levels which include transportation design and product design.
Rawat acknowledged and applauded the transformation of UPES from being only energy focused university a few years back to a one which is contributing in numerous aspects towards nation- building.
The campus director Dr Shrihari made a presentation to the Chief Minister on the ‘Journey so far of UPES’, which showcased the humble beginnings of UPES in 2003 from a rented premises with 240 students and three programmes to its current position of 7300 students and over 375 permanent faculty with 75 programmes. The University offers more than 75 programmes across its three constituent colleges at undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral levels. The programmes being offered in UPES cut across all core sector industry of this country.
Arun Dhand, director (Government relations and media affairs) made a brief presentation on the contributions made by UPES to the State of Uttarakhand which included the benefits being given to the domiciled students and the benefits being transferred to the local areas and surrounding villages through the corporate social responsibility channel.
He also briefed the Chief Minister on the boost which has been given to the State economy through various job opportunities and business opportunities which have been created by virtue of establishment of the university in Uttarakhand. The academic contributions made to various departments of UPES were also highlighted in his presentation.