Union Minister for Human Resource Development Dr MM Pallam Raju on Sunday called upon the institutions of higher learning to work as a ‘Resource Centres’ to develop the capability of solving problems at regional and local levels.
He was speaking at a function after laying the foundation stone for the proposed building for the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Raipur at Naya Raipur. The programme was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Raman Singh.
Expressing happiness over the fact that Chhattisgarh’s colleges of higher learning could maintain a higher admission rate of students than the national average, the Union Minister said that it is targetted to raise the national average of admission rate to 30 per cent in the coming years.
‘The governments at the State and Central level would need to work in partnerships for human resources development and also for creating a brighter future for the students,’ he said. ‘Both the Centre and the state government had been making all possible efforts for ensuring education for maximum number of children,’ Pallam Raju said.
He said that during the 11th Five Year Plan, approval had been granted for opening a total of seven IIMs including the one at Raipur. Speaking on the occasion, CM Raman Singh maintained that the admission rate of students in the higher education institutions in State had gone up by two-and-a-half-times which is about 20 per cent from the level of 8 per cent of the national average.
He called upon the IIM students to associate themselves with the various development and welfare schemes of the State Government. Singh said that the students can study the schemes and suggest ways of improving them.
‘Chhattisgarh is a state of immense possibilities. The students must utilise their knowledge and talent in the service of the people of the country,’ the Chief Minister said. The IIM building at Naya Raipur is coming up on around 200 acres of land at an estimated cost of `600 crore. Singh stated that favourable results could be obtained for any work by mental determination, choice of right person and decisions taken at the right time. While citing example of the successful conduct of IPl matches in Naya Raipur on April 28 and May 1, the CM commented : ‘We were thrown up the challenge of bringing up the Shaeed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium within a span of six months.
This was achieved under the guidance of an Empowered Committee under leadership of Chief Secretary Sunil Kumar in a record 45 days at a cost of just `23 crore’. The initial cost of the stadium project was estimated `60 crore. However, efficient management practices helped bring up the stadium at a far lesser cost, he said.
Singh told the students that better management practices in Chhattisgarh had resulted in successful creation a ‘model system’ of public distribution system for the nation and the entire world. ‘Chhattisgarh would be among the frontline states in the country.The State’s growth rate is already in double digits and the agricultural growth rate is also higher than the national average,’ he said.
The CM said that the concern of the corporate sector to generate profits while the State government’s goal is to bring about positive change in people’s lives. Minister for Higher Education and Technical Education Ramvichar Netam and Rajya Sabha MP Bhushanlal Jangde were the special guests on the occasion.
IIM Raipur Director Prof. B S Sahay delivered the vote of thanks.