Along the lines of the trend overseas, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday advocated turning educational institutions into centres for policy formation. Speaking at a youth conference in Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), his alma mater, Jaitley emphasised on the much-needed change in conventional ideologies and said that the country’s preparedness was the key to peace in the all areas.
According to the Minister, in Europe and “especially” in the US, educational institutes have become centres of policy formation. He said, “There is such strength in these institutions that colleges allow students and teachers enough freedom to make conflicting views clash so that ideas can emerge.” He also interacted with students.
Commenting on the importance of substantial growth, Jaitley also threw light on the ill-effects of being over cautious stating that over-regulation and high taxation doesn’t always work and can prove to be dangerous. “I regret that what we started in 1991 in the form of liberalisation was not started a decade earlier. We are on our way to building domestic defence capabilities. This could have started 30 years ago,” he shared.
Jaitley, who also helms the Defence Ministry, said that India lives in the “middle of a disturbed neighbourhood” while pitching for urgent development of the military hardware indigenously. “For 68 years, we have allowed the situation to slip. We have had several wars and on two fronts,” he said.
The rising competitiveness in the world in all spheres of life also found mention in his speech. Jaitley said that standards of excellence were only becoming tougher. However, bringing SRCC to the forefront, he said that over the years, the college had changed for the better.
Jaitley is also the member of the governing body of the college and spoke about the role the college plays in honing students. The Minister claimed that every time he has travelled he’s found and interacted with some good alumni of the college who have only made the institution proud. “When I travel I find a good representation of the college all over. I find alumni who have made a great impact. They are the personification of the success of this institution. However, it is now time to take SRCC to the next phase where it is recognised as an institution of excellence. This means that the college should have a globally comparable infrastructure,” said Jaitley.